Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said Monday (Dec. 15) that the work of the government and the quality of national production have led to the opening of over 500 international markets for Brazilian agricultural products from 2023 to 2025. “The success of what’s happening in Brazil comes as a result of the lessons we’ve learned over many years,” he stated.

He attended the inauguration of the Brasília headquarters of ApexBrasil – Brazil’s promotion agency for international trade. The event also celebrated the opening of these new markets, which have so far resulted in USD 3.4 billion in exports.

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This commercial expansion is spearheaded by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, with the participation of ApexBrasil, the Ministry of Foreign Relations, and the Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Services, in association with the private sector.

“Here’s what’s happening in Brazil today – we produce to meet the domestic market, and we’ve been producing so well that we’re now able to meet the needs of the international market. This is the most perfect thing that could happen,” the president said.

The president praised the work of ministers and authorities involved and said he envisions even further expansion. Next year, for instance, he is expected to attend the Hannover Messe in Germany, one of the world’s leading industrial innovation and technology fairs.

The Brazilian leader will also travel to South Korea, where he plans to explore partnerships in the cosmetics sector, and to India, where, he says, there is potential in defense, pharmaceuticals, and agricultural technology.

Potential

Located in over 80 countries, the new markets are estimated to have export potential of more than USD 37.5 billion a year, as per official figures. Each country may have several markets for different types of products – chief among them are meat, cotton, fruit, and fish.

In the view of Agriculture Minister Carlos Fávaro, the “historic achievement” of commercial expansion is the result of good Brazilian diplomacy and the nation’s production capacity. He also recalled that, in 2025, Brazil received certification as a foot-and-mouth disease–free country.

“For 72 years, Brazil fought against this disease. And the world now recognizes the healthiness of Brazilian products and the country’s ability to produce more and more with guaranteed quality,” he pointed out.

Trade promotion

According to ApexBrasil, from 2023 to 2025, the joint effort between the agency, the Ministry of Agriculture, and the Foreign Ministry resulted in more than 170 international initiatives across 42 countries, totaling USD 18 billion in projected business and serving over 3 thousand Brazilian companies. During this period, 19 official presidential missions and five 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 [for participation in events abroad]. These are fifty-fifty agreements, with Apex providing half the money and the organizations providing the other half. Why? So that Brazil can make its presence felt around the world. Events amount to close to a thousand each year,” he said.

Officially created in 2003 – during President Lula’s first term, which ended in October 2025 – ApexBrasil registered 20,754 companies supported during the year, 66 percent of which were micro, small, and medium-sized, with a special focus on the North and Northeast regions, as part of a strategy to decentralize trade promotion activities.

Brazil’s Vice-President and Minister of Industry Geraldo Alckmin said that Brazil is expected to break its export record this year. “Even with slower global growth and lower prices, we are expected to break a record of USD 345 billion in exports and USD 629 billion in trade flow,” he said.

The Brazilian government announced on Wednesday (Dec. 10) that 70.8 percent of the BRL 1.3 trillion allocated to the New Growth Acceleration Program (PAC) for 2023 to 2026 has already been spent. BRL 944.8 billion has been invested through August of this year in various projects and equipment throughout the country.

At a ceremony at the Planalto presidential palace, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said that many people thought it was “humanly impossible” to complete this volume of investment. He urged mayors and governors to move forward with the projects and said that it is the role of the state to mobilize resources for initiatives that reach the periphery and the poorest.

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“Now, this last part is passing the investment ball to mayors and governors, and we hope that our bureaucracy, which will make the investment, will not take too long,” he said, noting that the selection of the projects that received funds was made together with federal entities.

With an estimated BRL 1.7 trillion in public and private investments, the New PAC was launched in August 2023 by President Lula. Of the total amount, BRL 1.3 trillion is expected to be invested by 2026, with the remainder to be disbursed after that date.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Monday (24) received an honorary doctorate in political science, development, and international cooperation from the Pedagogical University of Maputo. Lula is visiting Mozambique’s capital to celebrate 50 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The honor recognizes Lula’s career and Brazil’s contribution to advancing education and science in Mozambique.

According to the university’s rector, Jorge Ferrão, more than 30 percent of Mozambique’s senior scientific staff - including holders of master’s and doctoral degrees - graduated from Brazilian higher education institutions through cooperation agreements signed during President Lula’s administrations.

“The Pedagogical University of Maputo opens its doors with a full heart because our gratitude is supreme and never-ending,” said the rector, noting that the title was also awarded on behalf of other Mozambican institutions.

The rector emphasized that academic cooperation is a two-way street and noted that, in 2024, the Pedagogical University of Maputo welcomed about 600 young people from Brazilian indigenous communities.

In a project with the Federal University of Maranhão, the Mozambican institution also committed to participating in the formulation and teaching of Afro-Brazilian history and culture in the Brazilian curriculum.

Best investment

Upon receiving the honor, President Lula cited several educational and anti-inequality policies developed in Brazil and reaffirmed that resources invested in education are not expenses, but “the best investment” a government can make.

“I know how much abuse we suffer for not having had the opportunity [to study]. That is why education, for me, is an obligation,” Lula emphasized, to loud applause from the audience.

Lula also pointed out that Brazil owes a great deal to the African continent, which helped “forge the country’s soul” during its 300 years of slavery, and stated that the undergraduate cooperation program for foreign students has been operating in Brazil for 60 years.

“International cooperation is only fair when it is based on solidarity and respect for the dignity and sovereignty of each country. This is the model that Brazil believes in,” Lula said.

On Monday (Nov. 24), Brazil and Mozambique signed nine cooperation agreements to strengthen the latter’s institutional capacity in development, health care, education, diplomacy, entrepreneurship, trade, civil aviation, legal assistance, and agroforestry.

In Maputo, the capital of the African country, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said he intends to restore the capacity of Brazil’s development bank BNDES to finance Brazilian companies abroad, benefiting both Brazil and partner nations like Mozambique.

“Mozambique is a developing country that still has infrastructure gaps to fill. Its growth depends on ports, roads, power plants, and transmission lines. Brazil has dynamic companies capable of making a contribution,” he said in a statement to the press alongside Mozambique’s President Daniel Chapo.

In order to export these services, Lula believes that Brazil must offer credit options to finance the internationalization of the country’s businesses, which has already been done via BNDES.

The Brazilian delegation arrived in Maputo on Sunday (24) from Johannesburg, South Africa, where Lula participated in the G20 Leaders’ Summit.

The trip to Mozambique is part of the celebrations of 50 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries, which are also partners in the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP).

The Ministry of Foreign Relations has also noted that, upon assuming his third term in 2023, the president made it clear that he would resume relations with African countries as a foreign policy priority.

“Brazil has lost its way down dark paths and, in the process, forgotten its ties with Africa. Many of the seeds we had sown did not have time to take root. But it is time to regain our conscience,” Lula declared.

In 2023, he visited South Africa, Angola, and São Tomé and Príncipe. In 2024, he visited Egypt and Ethiopia, as well as receiving the president of Benin on an official visit. In 2025, he welcomed the presidents of Angola and Nigeria. In May this year, Brazil also hosted a meeting of agriculture ministers.

Trade

Mozambique is the largest beneficiary of Brazilian cooperation with resources from the Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC) in Africa, covering a wide range of areas – health care, agriculture, education, professional training, among others. Since 2015, 67 initiatives have been formed.

The two countries also plan to expand trade and investment. To this end, a forum was organized with Brazilian and Mozambican executives featuring panels on agribusiness, industry and innovation, and health care. Lula should participate in the closing ceremony of the event on Monday.

Trade between Brazil and Mozambique totaled USD 40.5 million in 2024, with Brazilian exports totaling USD 37.8 million and imports totaling USD 2.7 million.

The products exported consist mainly of fresh, frozen, or chilled poultry meat (41%), perfumery or toilet articles (4.7%), and furniture and parts thereof (5%). Imports consist mainly of ungraded or stemmed tobacco (95%).

The government understands that, despite limited trade flows, Brazil’s commercial and institutional relations with African countries are part of a political project to combine cooperation for the development and education of these nations.

Today, Lula cited, for example, the strengthening of the Brazilian health industrial complex, which will once again enable the production of pharmaceuticals and medicines in Mozambique.

The president also revealed that, in 2026, the Ministry of Education and the Brazilian Cooperation Agency will offer up to 80 places for training courses in agricultural sciences and up to 400 places for technical courses in agriculture to Mozambican employees. The Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) will reinforce this initiative by training technicians from the African country.

“No one is better than Brazil to contribute to food security in Mozambique. With the right technology, we can increase productivity in the African savanna without compromising the environment,” he pointed out.

“With the same sense of priority, we are working to include Mozambique among the countries covered by the accelerated implementation phase of the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty,” he added.

The Brazilian president also mentioned potential partnerships for forest conservation, energy transition, audiovisual and literary production, and efforts to against organized crime.

“The Brazilian government has been working intelligently to dismantle criminal networks and strangle their sources of financing. The Brazilian Federal Police is internationally recognized for its ability to track illicit assets and combat money laundering. It is available to share its experience and expand its collaboration with Mozambique,” Lula added.

In addition to the working meeting with President Daniel Chapo and the meeting with business leaders, Lula will receive an honorary doctorate from the Pedagogical University of Maputo.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva issued a warning this Sunday (Nov. 23) about the need to discuss countries’ sovereignty over the knowledge and added value of critical minerals. Lula spoke during the final thematic session of the G20 Leaders’ Summit – a gathering of the world’s largest economies in Johannesburg, South Africa.

On the agenda were critical minerals, artificial intelligence, and decent work - topics that were also discussed at the 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30), which concluded this weekend in Belém, northern Brazil.

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“The way we integrate these three vectors of development will define not only our present but also the future of the next generations,” said the Brazilian president.

Critical minerals are essential resources for strategic sectors such as technology, defense, and the energy transition, with their supply subject to risks of scarcity or dependence on a limited number of suppliers.

These minerals include lithium, cobalt, nickel, and rare earth elements, which are fundamental for electric vehicle batteries, wind turbines, solar panels, and semiconductors.

This G20 Summit, under the South African presidency, will issue a document on critical minerals that emphasizes processing these resources in their countries of origin and outlines the principles to be observed in their extraction and processing.

For Lula, the energy transition offers opportunities to expand technological frontiers and redefine the role of natural resource exploitation.

“Countries with a large concentration of mineral reserves cannot be seen as mere suppliers while remaining on the sidelines of technological innovation. What is at stake is not only who holds these resources, but who controls the knowledge and added value derived from them,” the president told the leaders.

“Talking about critical minerals is also talking about sovereignty. Sovereignty is not measured by the quantity of natural deposits, but by the ability to transform resources through policies that benefit the population. We need environmentally and socially responsible investments that help strengthen the industrial and technological base of countries that possess these resources,” said Lula.

Brazil, for example, holds about 10 percent of the world’s reserves of these elements, according to the Brazilian Mining Institute (Ibram), an organization representing the private sector.

In the country, research indicates that the pursuit of minerals needed for energy transition projects is already causing conflicts in new exploratory areas. Another study shows that this pursuit accelerates the climate crisis.

Lula recalled that Brazil created the National Council for Critical and Strategic Minerals to plan mineral exploration policies and stated that the country will not only be an exporter but also a partner in the global value chain for these elements.

AI and decent work

Similarly, the president argued that artificial intelligence (AI) represents a “unique opportunity” to promote equitable development for nations. He advocates establishing global and representative governance on the subject to ensure its benefits are shared.

“[AI] promotes innovation, increases productivity, encourages sustainable practices, and can improve people’s lives in a concrete way. The great challenge is not only to master the tool, but also to ensure that everyone can use it safely, securely, and reliably,” he said.

“When a few control the algorithms, the data, and the infrastructures linked to economic processes, innovation begins to generate exclusion. It is essential to prevent a new form of colonialism: the digital kind. It is urgent that the world’s largest economies deepen the debate on AI governance, with the United Nations at the center of this discussion,” the president added.

Lula also recalled that 2.6 billion people lack access to the digital world. According to him, 93 percent of the population in high-income countries has Internet access, compared with only 27 percent in low-income countries.

Finally, the president argued that technological development should be linked to job opportunities and worker protection, noting that 40 percent of the world’s workforce is in roles highly exposed to AI, at risk of automation or technological augmentation.

“Every solar panel, every chip, every line of code must carry the mark of social inclusion,” he noted. “We must build bridges between traditional and emerging sectors. Technology must strengthen - not weaken - human and labor rights,” Lula told the G20 leaders.

Agenda

The G20 is the main forum for international economic cooperation, created in 1999 following the Asian financial crisis. In 2008, it also became a political body, with summits of heads of state and government.

In 2025, South Africa will chair the G20 under the motto “Solidarity, Equality, and Sustainability,” focusing on four priorities: strengthening resilience and disaster response capacity; ensuring the sustainability of public debt in low-income countries; financing a just energy transition; and promoting critical minerals as drivers of development and economic growth.

The South African presidency concludes a cycle in which every member country will have held the group’s leadership at least once.

On the sidelines of the summit this Sunday, Lula also met with the leaders of the India-Brazil-South Africa Dialogue Forum (IBSA). The trilateral initiative was launched in 2003 to promote cooperation among countries of the Global South.

Lula landed in Johannesburg on Friday (21) and spoke on Saturday (22) at the first two thematic sessions of the G20, covering sustainable and inclusive economic growth as well as climate change and disaster risk reduction.

He also held bilateral meetings with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

Later today, the president will travel to Maputo, the capital of Mozambique, for a working visit on Monday (24). The trip is part of the celebrations marking 50 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Lula is expected to return to Brazil later the same day.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva arrived in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Friday (Nov. 21) to attend the G20 Leaders’ Summit, a group of the world’s largest economies. “The G20’s motto for 2025 is Solidarity, Equality, and Sustainability, themes of fundamental importance for Brazil and the Global South,” Lula wrote in a post on social media this morning upon landing in the South African capital.

As president of the bloc in 2024, Brazil also has a prominent role in this edition of the summit, as it is part of the troika alongside South Africa and the United States, the next country to take over the forum. The troika is the cooperation mechanism among the current, previous, and next presidencies of the group to ensure continuity and preparation for the summit.

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In conducting the work, the South African presidency has listed four priorities for discussion: strengthening resilience and disaster response capacity; ensuring the sustainability of public debt in low-income countries; financing a just energy transition; and promoting the role of critical minerals as drivers of development and economic growth.

The G20 is the main forum for international economic cooperation, created in 1999. This year’s summit will be divided into three thematic sessions and will conclude with a leaders’ declaration. Among the expected advances, the document will outline the principles that must be observed in the extraction and processing of strategic minerals and rare earths.

On Saturday (22) morning, leaders will discuss sustainable economic growth, including development financing, trade, and public debt. In the afternoon, a session will be dedicated to climate change, disaster risk reduction, food security, and the energy transition. On Sunday (23), the discussions will turn to critical minerals, decent work, and artificial intelligence.

On the sidelines of the summit, President Lula is also expected to hold bilateral meetings with the heads of state and officials in attendance, and on Sunday, a meeting is scheduled with the leaders of the India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) Dialogue Forum. The trilateral initiative was developed in 2003 to promote cooperation among countries in the Global South.

Mozambique

Lula will then travel to Maputo, the capital of Mozambique, where he will make a working visit on Monday (24). The trip is part of the celebrations marking 50 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Mozambique is the largest beneficiary of Brazilian cooperation funded by the Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC) in Africa, with initiatives spanning health, agriculture, education, professional training, and other areas, including structural projects. During the visit, cooperation in fields such as agriculture, entrepreneurship, health, education, and the fight against organized crime will be revisited.

The two countries also want to expand trade and investment. To this end, a business forum is being organized, with an attendance estimated at 150 to 200 Brazilian and Mozambican businesspeople, and panels on agribusiness, industry, innovation, and health.

Lula is expected to return to Brazil on Monday.