President Prabowo Subianto welcomed Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in Jakarta on Thursday to reaffirm the two countries’ roles as rising powers of the Global South, emphasizing efforts to boost economic partnership in his second back-to-back meeting with a BRICS leader.

The two presidents acknowledged that Indonesia and Brazil, which share a commitment to championing developing nations, must step up cooperation across all sectors to reinforce each others’ positions in the global arena, highlighting the increasing trend toward protectionism and unilateralism.

In his first visit to Indonesia since 2008, Lula and his delegation arrived at the Halim Perdanakusuma Air Force Base in Jakarta on Wednesday evening. 

His visit to Jakarta was a stopover on his way to Kuala Lumpur to attend the 47th ASEAN Summit over the weekend, kicking off what he has described as Brazil’s renewed push to engage with Southeast Asia, a region whose strategic significance has grown in recent years.

Lula visited the State Palace on Thursday morning, arriving in a motorcade escorted by a military detachment composed of motorized units and cavalrymen.

At least 11 ministers were present during Lula’s visit, according to statements from the Presidential Secretariat, representing various portfolios such as trade, investment, energy, food and education.

During a closed-door meeting, Prabowo and Lula discussed strengthening strategic cooperation between both countries across trade, defense, energy and climate.

Popular

The police are not even the biggest elephant in the room

A platform ripe with potential, AdXelerate is Telkom’s programmatic ads breakthrough

Patronage or expertise: Indonesia’s bureaucracy at a crossroads