Brazilian President Lula Expressed His Desire To Become A Full Member Of ASEAN

JAKARTA - Brazilian President Luiz In handycio Lula da Silva expressed his desire to join the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) which is a form of affirmation of Brazil's commitment to strengthening relations and cooperation with the association.

"Brazil works to become a full member of ASEAN. We have faces (identities) like ASEAN countries and we want to be a full member of ASEAN," President Lula told a press conference while visiting the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta, Friday, October 24.

President Lula's remarks referred to the first time he has participated in a Brazilian president at the ASEAN Summit. The ASEAN 46th Conference will take place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on October 26-28.

Lula's presence at the forum was at a direct invitation from ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn.

Awaiting his participation in the ASEAN forum, Lula said he would use the meeting as a forum to learn things about ASEAN, including cooperation in the economic sector.

Lula said Brazil was experiencing a good economic moment with growth above 3 percent over two consecutive years. Brazil last experienced economic growth above 3 percent in 2010.

Therefore, Lula wants to make the momentum of the country's economy both to attract more investors and by increasing investment abroad, such as ASEAN member countries.

"I intend to continue to bring good luck to Brazil and that's why I continue to travel to see if we can increase our trade balance, increase our income in dollars, increase our investment abroad and attract new investment into Brazil," he said.

Currently, ASEAN's full membership is only intended for countries located in Southeast Asia. ASEAN has 10 member countries, namely Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Papua New Guinea has the status of an observable and has expressed a desire to join ASEAN, whose membership will be discussed at the ASEAN Summit in Malaysia.

Brazil joined the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC) in 2011, becoming the first Latin American country to do so. In August 2022, Brazil was officially awarded the status of ASEAN's Sectoral Dialogue Partner, also the first of Latin America.

Then in 2023, Brazil officially established the Brazilian Mission for ASEAN, which helped make it the first country and to date the only ASEAN Sectoral Dialogue Partner to establish a special mission for ASEAN.