BRICS summit: Lula begins first working day in South Africa | Policy

Lula arrived in Johannesburg, the capital of South Africa, on Monday (21). The city will host the fifteenth meeting of heads of state of the bloc.

According to Ambassador Eduardo Saboya, of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the meeting between BRICS leaders will have three main themes:

Besides Lula, Presidents Cyril Ramaphosa (South Africa) and Xi Jinping (China), and Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India will attend the summit. Russian President Vladimir Putin will participate remotely.

This Tuesday, the leaders will participate in the Business Forum. After that, there will be a retreat, an event that brings together only heads of state and government and foreign ministers. The Brazilian government said Russian chancellor Sergei Lavrov would be present.

In addition to the specific agenda of the BRICS leaders, on the first day of the meeting, Lula will have the following commitments:

• Meeting with representatives of the African National Congress (ANC)
• BRICS Business Forum Dialogue
• A meeting at the BRICS leaders’ retreat
• and a welcome dinner for BRICS leaders hosted by the President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa

Prior to the BRICS leaders’ agenda of activities, Lula will also participate in the “Conversation with the President” program implemented by Empresa Brasil de Comunicação (EBC).

Lula will participate in the commitments associated with the BRICS summit until Thursday (24).

According to the agenda published by Itamarati, on Wednesday (23), the president will attend the summit meeting of the leaders of the bloc, which is scheduled to take place in two sessions.

On Thursday (24), there is an expectation of an expanded meeting with BRICS member states and about 40 invited countries, most of them heads of state and government of countries interested in joining the bloc, coming from Africa, South America and the Caribbean. and Asia.

This is the Labor Party’s second trip to Africa since taking office in January this year. Earlier, he took a quick trip to Cape Verde, an African archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean.

Angola will be Lula’s first destination after her appointments in Johannesburg. Itamarate expects, among other agendas, to meet with Angolan President, Joao Lourenco, and to participate in a meeting with businessmen.

In Sao Tome and Principe, the President will participate in the Summit of the Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries (CPLP).