Presidents of Brazil and South Africa discuss the upcoming BRICS summit

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva met with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa after arriving in the French capital, Paris.

During the meeting, the two leaders discussed preparations for the upcoming BRICS summit, a bloc that includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The event will take place on 22-24 August in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Lula da Silva and Ramaphosa also discussed the development of bilateral ties. This year Brazil and South Africa are celebrating 75 years since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1948.

The two countries maintain intensive diplomatic cooperation and participate in various international forums: in addition to BRICS, they are members of IBSA (together with India), BASIC (with India and China) and the G20, as reported by Brasil 247, a partner of TV BRICS.

Apart from Angola, South Africa is the only country on the African continent with which Brazil maintains strategic partnerships, cooperation in security, nuclear energy, investment and market access.

In 2022, foreign trade between Brazil and South Africa amounted to US$2.6 billion, of which US$1.7 billion were Brazilian exports and US$900 million were South African exports. Brazil's most exported commodities were oil (16 per cent of the total), chicken (12 per cent) and vehicles (7.2 per cent). Imports from South Africa were led by silver and platinum (33 per cent), followed by coal (11 per cent) and aluminium (10 per cent).

Photo: Brasil 247