President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva stated, this Monday (15), that the collective work of the government and the quality of national production are responsible for the opening of more than 500 international markets for Brazilian agricultural products between 2023 and 2025. “The correctness of things that are happening in Brazil is due to the learning we have had over many years,” he said.
Lula participated, in Brasília, in the inauguration of the headquarters of ApexBrasil, the country’s commercial promotion agency abroad. The event also celebrates the opening of 500 new markets outside Brazil, which already result in US$3.4 billion in exports.
This commercial expansion work is led by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (Mapa), with the participation of ApexBrasil, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MRE) and the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Services and in conjunction with the private sector.
“What happens in Brazil today: we produce to serve the domestic market and we produce so well that we can meet the needs of the foreign market. This is the most perfect thing that could happen”, highlighted Lula.
The president praised the work of the ministers and authorities involved in Brazil’s internationalization and said he wants to expand further. Next year, for example, he will participate in the Hannover Fair, in Germany, one of the main innovation and industrial technology events in the world. For Lula, the national industry is already competitive and has its own identity.
“We no longer need what they need. Now, we’re the ones who have to say this. So, at this fair, we’re going to see if we can take the largest number of businesspeople that we’ve ever taken, because we’ve had enough of Brazil presenting itself as if it were poor things,” he stated.
Lula also travels to South Korea, where he wants to explore partnerships in the cosmetics sector, and to India, where, according to him, there is potential in the areas of defense, pharmaceuticals and agricultural technologies.
The 500 open markets in more than 80 countries have an export potential of more than US$37.5 billion per year, according to Mapa estimates. Each country may have several markets for different types of products. Among the items enabled in these new markets, the highlights are meat, cotton, fruit and fish.
For the Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Carlos Fávaro, the “historic feat” of commercial expansion is the result of good Brazilian diplomacy and the country’s production capacity. He also recalled that, in 2025, Brazil received certification as a country free from foot-and-mouth disease.
“For 72 years, Brazil fought against this disease. And the world now recognizes the health of Brazilian products, the ability to produce more and more with guaranteed quality. To achieve this, to gain workforce, we left 29 attaches [representante do país no exterior] for 40 new attachés touring the countries, interacting with businesspeople. In short, an always precedent task force”, he stated.
According to Fávaro, the 500 new markets will gradually become new businesses. “The businessman on the other side buys a product, makes the first container, sees that the product is good, sees that it arrives at the right time, that there is demand and Brazil can meet this demand, it will expand. The fruit of these 500 markets, Brazil will understand in the coming years, the odyssey and the great opportunity”, he added.
Lula participates in the inauguration of the new headquarters of ApexBrasil and an event alluding to the opening of 500 new markets for the export of agricultural products – Fabio Rodrigues-Pozzebom/ Agênc
Commercial promotion
According to ApexBrasil, between 2023 and 2025, the joint effort between the agency, Mapa and MRE resulted in more than 170 international actions in 42 countries, reaching US$ 18 billion in projected business and serving more than three thousand Brazilian companies. During this period, 19 official presidential and 5 vice-presidential missions were carried out.
The president of ApexBrasil, Jorge Viana, also spoke about the importance of the partnership with the private sector.
“Apex has 52 agreements with 52 sectors of the Brazilian economy [para participação em eventos no exterior]. Half and half agreements, Apex puts in half the money and the organizations put in half the money. For what? For Brazil to be present throughout the world. There are a thousand events per year,” he said.
President of APEXBrasil highlights that the entity participates in around a thousand business events per year – Fabio Rodrigues-Pozzebom/ Agênc
Officially created in 2003, during President Lula’s first term, until October 2025, ApexBrasil registered 20,754 supported companies during the year, 66% of which were micro, small and medium-sized, with a special focus on the North and Northeast regions, within a strategy of decentralization of commercial promotion actions.
The vice-president and minister of Industry, Commerce and Services, Geraldo Alckmin, said that Brazil should break the export record this year. “Even with the world growing less and prices lower, we should break a record of US$ 345 billion in exports, and US$ 629 billion in trade. Even panettone exports increased, panettone exports increased by 4% this year”, he said.
“There is no country in the world that has stronger and more sustainable growth that has not opened up to the world, that has not prioritized foreign trade, that has not conquered the market,” added Alckmin.
