By Berk Kutay Gokmen
ISTANBUL (AA) - Brazilian President Lula da Silva arrived in Indonesia on Wednesday for trade talks with his Indonesian counterpart, Prabowo Subianto.
Lula announced his arrival in Indonesia on the US social media company X, where he said that Brazil aims to expand its business partnership with Southeast Asian nations.
His aircraft landed in the Indonesian capital Jakarta at around 6 pm (1100GMT). Prabowo sent Indonesian Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman to meet with the Brazilian leader at the airport.
Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Yvonne Mewengkang said that the two leaders will discuss “matters of mutual interests” on Thursday.
“The leaders will certainly discuss issues that will bolster Brazil-Indonesia bilateral ties, particularly on the economic front,” Yvonne told the Jakarta Globe.
Yvonne did not elaborate on the type of economic cooperation the two leaders would focus on.
The bilateral trade between Indonesia and Brazil amounted to almost $4.4 billion between January and August, official data showed.
Earlier in the day, Prabowo hosted South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in Jakarta for bilateral talks focused on expanding cooperation in trade, defense, and other strategic areas.
After departing from Indonesia on Friday, Lula will next travel to Malaysia, where he will attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Kuala Lumpur.
Lula’s visit to Indonesia came three months after Prabowo’s official trip to Brazil.