Brazilian President Lula da Silva invites South African President Ramaphosa to visit Latin American country before G20 Summit

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva held a meeting with South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor. Accompanied by Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira, the main topic of the meeting was the strengthening of bilateral relations between the two countries.

Naledi Pandor presented President Lula with a greeting and a letter from South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. During the meeting, Lula invited Ramaphosa to visit Brazil ahead of the G20 Summit scheduled for November 2024 in Rio de Janeiro, as a sign of strengthening both countries' commitment to multilateral co-operation. This is reported by Brasil 247, a partner of TV BRICS.

The reactivation of the Brazil-South Africa Bilateral Commission has been hailed as a crucial step towards deepening co-operation in various fields. Naledi Pandor said the outcome of the meetings was considered excellent and marked a new chapter in the partnership between the two countries.

During the meeting, Lula and Pandor spoke about the importance of boosting social programmes and policies in Brazil, and discussed the positive performance of the Brazilian economy. Special attention was paid to the need to increase trade flow between the two countries. In 2023, bilateral trade reached the US$2.21 billion.

Given this context, Lula suggested the possibility of bringing a delegation of South African businessmen during a possible visit by President Ramaphosa, in order to stimulate commercial partnerships and investments between the private sectors of the two countries.

Minister Mauro Vieira also highlighted the launch of direct flights between Sao Paulo and Johannesburg and Cape Town as an important step towards promoting commercial and cultural exchange.