Prime Minister Kishida met with Brazilian President
Lula for a Summit meeting and said Japan will
strengthen cooperation with Brazil, which holds theG20 presidency this year, working together for thesuccess of the G20 Rio de Janeiro Summit.

PM KISHIDA’S VISIT TO BRAZIL REAFFIRMS

FRIENDSHIP BACKED BYNIKKEI COMMUNITIESIn May 2024, Prime Minister KISHIDA Fumio made the first official visit to Brazil by a Japanese prime ministerin a decade. There, he held a Summit meeting with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, with whom heconcurred on the importance of enhancing cooperation as Strategic and Global Partners to uphold the rule of law
and to ensure a world where human dignity is secured.
Japan and Brazil established diplomatic relationsin 1895 with the signing of the Treaty of Friendship,
Commerce and Navigation. Since then, the twocountries have built historic friendship ties and strong
human bonds. On May 3 and 4, 2024, Prime Minister
Kishida visited Brazil to take Japan-Brazil relations tonew heights. In the country’s capital, Brasilia, he helda Summit meeting with President Lula and discussed
a wide range of issues, from security, the economy,trade, and investment to climate change solutions
and energy.
Prime Minister Kishida stated that Japan will
strengthen cooperation with Brazil, which holds theG20 presidency this year, working together for thesuccess of the G20 Rio de Janeiro Summit. The twoleaders concurred on the importance of enhancing
cooperation as Strategic and Global Partners touphold the rule of law and to ensure a world where

human dignity is secured.
In light of the 30th Session of the Conference of theParties to the United Nations Framework Convention
on Climate Change (COP30) to be held in Belem,Brazil, next year, the two leaders launched the JapanBrazil Green Partnership Initiative (GPI), aiming
at taking cooperation on the environment, climatechange measures, and sustainable development to aneven higher level. (Full text: Joint Statement on theBrazil-Japan Partnership Initiative on Environment,Climate, Sustainable Development and Resilient
Economies*)
Furthermore, the two leaders concurred onestablishing the Initiative for Sustainable Fuel andMobility (ISFM) as a new international framework
to contribute to global carbon neutrality by linking
Brazil’s highly promising biofuels, e-fuels, andother decarbonized fuels with innovative Japanesetechnology, such as hybrid engines.
Concerning the economy, the two leaders affirmed
the importance of strengthening relations between
Japan and MERCOSUR, a customs union establishedin 1995 to eliminate tariffs within the region, as well
as examining ways to enhance economic relations
between them in a wide range of areas.
In 2014, the Brazil-Japan Strategic and Global
Partnership was established to encourage cooperation
between these two countries, which share values
and principles such as democracy and the rule oflaw. The two leaders celebrated the 10 years of thepartnership and highlighted the historic friendly ties
and strong human bonds between the two nations.
*https://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/files/100664789.pdf**https://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/files/100664791.pdf

Top: Prime Minister Kishida attended a welcome ceremony hosted byNikkei ( Japanese immigrants and descendants) communities in Sao Paulo,
where he was welcomed by children.
Left: At the University of Sao Paulo, Prime Minister Kishida delivered aspeech on Japan’s foreign policy towards Latin America and the Caribbean,in which he announced that cooperation between Japan and countries inthose regions is more important than ever to lead the world toward
cooperation, and he outlined concrete directions to achieve this goal.

The 2.7 million Japanese descendants living in Brazil
constitute the largest Nikkei (immigrants from Japanand their descendants) community outside Japan,
while Japan is home to the fifth-largest Brazilian
community abroad, with more than 210,000
Brazilian residents. The two leaders designated theyear 2025 as the “Japan-Brazil Friendship ExchangeYear” on the occasion of the 130th anniversary of
the establishment of diplomatic relations. They also
confirmed that they would promote cooperation invarious fields, including cultural, tourism, and sports
exchanges.
Prime Minister Kishida and President Lula issued
a joint statement on the results of their discussions
during the Japan-Brazil Summit meeting (Full text:
Joint Statement on Further Strengthening the BrazilJapan Strategic and Global Partnership**). Duringa press conference in Sao Paulo, Prime Minister
Kishida stated, “To work toward the fundamental
common goal of upholding and strengthening thefree and open international order based on the ruleof law and ensuring a world where human dignity issecured, Japan will apply its distinctive diversity andinclusiveness in working closely with other countries,including Latin American and Caribbean countries.”
Japan will continue to make every effort in Summit
diplomacy toward an international community
characterized by cooperation, which Japan, as a nationof peace, is uniquely positioned to promote.