In a meeting with the Prime Minister of Italy, Giorgia Meloni, who currently holds the presidency of the G7, the President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, reaffirmed the alliance and the deep connection between the two countries. Meloni highlighted the 800,000 Italian citizens and 30 million descendants of Italians who live in Brazil, almost 20% of the Brazilian population.
The company Enel, which has a stake in the Italian government, was one of the topics discussed at the Copacabana Fort, and Lula highlighted the need to improve the services provided by the concessionaire, which were heavily criticized last year in São Paulo, where at least three blackouts hit the metropolitan region in the period.
Meloni recalled that Italian companies have plans to invest 40 billion euros in Brazil, reaffirming their interest in updating partnership and economic cooperation agreements between the two countries, mainly in the areas of development, energy transition and food security.
The meeting was attended by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Mauro Vieira; da Fazenda, Fernando Haddad; from the Civil House, Rui Costa; of Agriculture, Carlos Fávaro, and of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira. Special advisor for international affairs Celso Amorim also participated.
Dating
The meetings were not limited to the European partner. Earlier, the president met with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. The discussions were around the launch of the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty, scheduled for this Monday (18), and about the importance of the South Asian nation in the semiconductor area.
It is the first time that the prime minister visits Brazil. Ibrahim highlighted at the meeting that President Lula may not know it, but he has many admirers in Malaysia, due to his significance in the area of social justice and his tenacity. The two leaders also spoke of support for Brazil’s position on reform in global governance.
President Lula and ministers also had a bilateral meeting with the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, head of the UAE delegation, who will participate as a guest country at the G20 meeting.
The discussions revolved around the signing of cooperation and investment agreements in energy and infrastructure. There were also conversations about reforming global governance and economic cooperation and expanding ties between the two countries.
This afternoon, President Lula met with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. The theme of the meeting was the agreement between the European Union and Mercosur.
