Lula da Silva calls for more balance in Brazil’s trade balance with Japan – Observer

Brazilian President Lula da Silva defended this Friday a greater balance in the trade balance with Japan, “in a two-way path” and insisted on Japanese permission to import Brazilian beef.

“Good trade is a two-way street”, said the Brazilian head of state, in a press conference, at Palácio do Planalto, in Brasília, alongside the Japanese Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida, who is on a two-day trip to country.

In that regard, Lula da Silva asked for more Japanese investment in Brazil and recalled that in recent years trade between the two countries fell by around seven billion dollars, now standing at 11 billion dollars.

The Brazilian head of state highlighted the quality and good price of Brazilian meat and expressed the hope that, after visiting Brazil, the world’s largest beef producer, Kishida will authorize imports, which until now have been blocked by Japanese health restrictions.

“Our meat is of quality and cheaper than what you buy”said Lula da Silva.

According to the Brazilian press, Japan imports 70% of the beef consumed in the country and, of this amount, around 80% comes from the United States and Australia.

Kishida did not address the meat issue, but said he wanted to take bilateral economic cooperation “to the next level” and stated that his Government would study ways to strengthen relations with the Mercosur trade bloc.

The Japanese delegation is attended by 150 Japanese businesspeople and employees.

Os two leaders signed around 36 cooperation agreements in the areas of cybersecurity, science and technology, agriculture and environment.

Kishida is expected to travel to Paraguay this Friday and, on Saturday, the Japanese prime minister returns to Brazil for a series of meetings with businesspeople and people of Japanese descent in São Paulo.

Brazil has the largest community of Japanese descendants outside Japan, estimated at more than two million people, and the Asian country is home to the fifth largest group of Brazilians abroad, around 211 thousand.