Jakarta. Brazilian President Lula da Silva set foot in Jakarta on Wednesday evening for trade talks with his Indonesian counterpart, Prabowo Subianto.

Lula’s presidential aircraft landed in Jakarta at around 6 p.m. as heavy rain showered the city. Prabowo sent Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman to pick up the Brazilian politician from the airport. According to the Foreign Affairs Ministry’s spokeswoman, Yvonne Mewengkang, Prabowo and Lula will discuss “matters of mutual interests” the following day.

“The leaders will certainly discuss issues that will bolster Brazil-Indonesia bilateral ties, particularly on the economic front,” Yvonne told the Jakarta Globe. 

She did not elaborate on the specific type of economic cooperation they would focus on. 

However, both countries are members of the G20 and BRICS. Brazil currently assumes the rotating chairmanship of BRICS -- a group that US President Donald Trump considers to have posed a threat to dollar dominance. Earlier that day, Prabowo had hosted South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. South Africa is one of the earlier members of BRICS.

Likely, Prabowo will once again pitch the free trade deal with the Brazil-led Mercosur as Jakarta intends to diversify its export destinations. Official statistics showed that Indonesia-Brazil trade amounted to almost $4.4 billion between January and August. Jakarta ran a deficit of nearly $1.4 billion over the said eight-month period.

Lula’s Jakarta trip took place about three months after Prabowo paid a state visit to Brasilia.

The ASEAN Secretariat revealed that Lula would be visiting its headquarters on Friday. This high-level engagement is expected to touch on trade, sustainable development, and renewable energy, among others.

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