Petista participates in the Asean summit and reserves space on the agenda for a possible meeting with the president of the United States
The president (PT) arrived in Malaysia this Friday (Oct 24, 2025) at around 4:30 am (Brasília time) to participate in the 47th Summit of the (Association of Southeast Asian Nations). Lula, who was next to the first lady, Janja Lula da Silva, fHi welcomed by the Prime Minister (Popular Justice Party, center-left).
The Chief Executive’s trip to Kuala Lumpur represents a strategic move to expand Brazil’s presence in a region of growing global economic relevance. This is Lula’s 1st visit to Malaysia and the 2nd by a Brazilian head of state to the country – the previous one was in 1995, during the government of Fernando Henrique Cardoso.
The PT member’s stay in the Asian country could mark his first meeting with the president of the United States (Republican Party). Lula leaves on Sunday (October 26, 2025) for bilateral meetings. The expectation is that the PT member will meet with the Republican, who will participate in the summit. However, there is still no confirmation.
Before leaving for Malaysia, Lula gave an interview to journalists in Jakarta (Indonesia). He said he is optimistic about the possibility of reaching an agreement with Trump. But he admitted that this should not be implemented at the eventual meeting in Kuala Lumpur. “The deal certainly won’t be done tomorrow or the day after tomorrow when I meet with him [Trump]. It will be done by negotiators“, he said. Asked when there will be an understanding, the Brazilian president replied: “If I could give a precise answer, I would. I wish it were yesterday, but if it’s tomorrow, that’s good”.
A meeting between Lula and Trump has been considered since September, when the 2 presidents spent less than 1 minute behind the scenes at the UN General Assembly (United Nations) in New York. Since then, the governments of Brazil and the USA have been working to facilitate a more lively face-to-face conversation.
The 2 presidents on the phone for about half an hour on October 6th. According to Palácio do Planalto, the tone was friendly. Lula highlighted that Brazil is one of the countries with which the US maintains a trade surplus and requested the removal of the trade surplus applied to imported Brazilian products. The PT member against Brazilian authorities.
Following the negotiations, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Brazil, Mauro Vieira, spent about 1 hour with the Secretary of State of the United States, Marco Rubio, on October 16 in Washington. After the meeting, Vieira told journalists that the meeting had been “very productive“, but did not provide information about the possible meeting between the presidents. He only indicated that there is willingness on both sides.
For the Brazilian government, the meeting between Vieira and Rubio helped to expand the relationship between the countries and, in fact, open the channel to organize the meeting between Lula and Trump.
ECONOMIC APPROACH
The Brazilian president seeks to strengthen strategic partnerships with Southeast Asian countries and expand Brazil’s presence in the region.
Lula’s visit to Kuala Lumpur aims, according to Planalto, to intensify and diversify bilateral trade and investments. The focus is on strategic sectors such as energy, science, technology and innovation.
Lula has emphasized the importance of strategic autonomy, defending commercial relations with multiple partners and insisting on expanding the power of what he calls . By approaching Asian countries, the president seeks to consolidate the diversification of Brazilian foreign policy, reinforce commercial alliances and position the country as an active actor in the emerging international architecture.
In July, Lula to Asia as “dynamic center of the world economy” and said that it is time for Mercosur countries to look at the continent.
Asean, made up of fast-growing economies such as Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia, offers Brazil significant opportunities for market diversification.
In addition to the Asean summit, Lula will participate in the Brazil-Malaysia Bilateral Forum, aimed at direct rapprochement between the private sectors of the two countries. According to Planalto, around 20 high-profile Brazilian businesspeople, operating in strategic areas and interested in bilateral partnerships, will participate in meetings with investors and local authorities, “consolidating new fronts of cooperation and business”.
Brazil maintains a trade surplus with Asean. In 2024, the Asian bloc imported US$26.3 billion of Brazilian goods, according to . The main products purchased by Southeast Asian countries are mineral fuels, feed and ores. Brazil, in turn, imported US$10.8 billion from Asean.
“Asean is today Brazil’s 5th main trading partner, the 4th destination for our exports and the group that accounted for more than 20% of the Brazilian foreign trade surplus, with a favorable balance of around 15.5 billion dollars”, said Ambassador Everton Lucero, director of the India, South and Southeast Asia department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Brazil and Indonesia.
INDONESIA
Before Malaysia, Lula was in Indonesia. He met, on Thursday (Oct 23), with the president of the country, (Gerindra Party, right).
The Brazilian and Indonesian governments have signed treaties on critical minerals, science, technology, innovation, pest and disease control and statistics.
Lula defended that countries “Don’t be dependent on anyone” and reinforced the idea of “multilateralism” against “unilateralism“. He said he was in favor of a “commercial democracy”, and not “protectionism”.
In a statement to journalists alongside Subianto, the Brazilian president declared: “In the current scenario of heightened protectionism, our countries are fully capable of showing the world their ability to defend economic interests with dialogue and mutual respect(28min24s)
Lula also spoke about:
- free trade – said that nations have their own currencies, the real and the Indonesian rupiah;
- Global South and representation – defended greater vocalization of the Global South in international representation bodies, such as the UN (United Nations). He once again said that a comprehensive reform of the Security Council was necessary, in order to “resolve its present lack of representation and paralysis”;
- try for re-election – reaffirmed that. “I want to tell you that I’m going to turn 80, but you can be sure that I have the same energy as when I was 30. And I will run for a 4th term in Brazil”, declared Subianto;
- Mercosur-Indonesia – the bloc and the Asian preferential trade country until the end of the Brazilian presidency, in December.
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