Lula wants Japan as a partner for forest conservation in South America

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) stated this Tuesday (30) that he hopes Japan will help in the conservation of forests in South America, expanding the partnership with the Asian country.

“I hope Japan will be a partner with countries that have forests. Here in South America, we are eight countries with a lot of forests. You have Brazil, Venezuela, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana and we have Suriname”, he highlighted in a statement to Japanese journalists at the Palácio do Planalto.

Thus, Lula also said he hopes that Japan “shares with Brazil the forest maintenance policy that we want to have”, warning that “keeping a forest standing costs a lot of money”.

Furthermore, he highlighted that it is necessary to take into account the people who live in these regions.

Another point addressed by the PT member was the energy transition, a subject on which he stated that Japan can benefit from the relationship with Brazil.

“Brazil is possibly the great opportunity that Japan needs and can have to share with Brazil the development of this new energy matrix that the world needs so much”, he pondered.

At another point, Lula also commented that he will have a meeting with a Japanese company and the Minister of Agriculture, Carlos Fávaro, on Thursday (2).

According to the president, the company will make the “first investment” to help recover degraded areas.

Meeting with Japanese Prime Minister

This Tuesday's press conference takes place a few days before the visit of Japanese Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida, to Brazil.

The prime minister and the Brazilian president will have a meeting this Friday (3), in Brasília.

According to Lula, the priority with this meeting will be to “perfect and improve the relationship between Japan and Brazil”, with one of the focuses being the Economy.