Courtesy Call from Vice President and Minister of Development, Industry, Trade and Services, Alckmin (Summary)

On May 4, commencing at 5:10 p.m. (local time; 5:10 a.m. on May 5, JST) for approximately 30 minutes, Mr. KISHIDA Fumio, Prime Minister of Japan, during his visit to Sao Paulo, Brazil, received a courtesy call from H.E. Mr. Geraldo ALCKMIN, Vice-President and Minister of Development, Industry, Trade and Services of the Federative Republic of Brazil. The overview is as follows.

1. At the outset, Prime Minister Kishida, pointing out that 46 Japanese entities were accompanying him on this visit and about 40 documents such as memorandums of understanding (MOUs) were concluded, stated that this is a strong indication of the high expectations from Japan for Brazil and that he would like to elevate the level of relationship further in cooperation with both the public and private sectors under the “Strategic Global Partnership.”

2. Prime Minister Kishida referred to the “Japan-Brazil Green Partnership Initiative (GPI),” which he and President Lula launched to address environmental protection and climate change including decarbonization. He also noted that President Lula and he concurred on the launch of the “Japan-Brazil Industrial Co-Creation Initiative” to advance industrial cooperation between the two countries, including economic and industrial diversification and the creation of new industries. He furthermore stated that the ISFM was launched this time as a new international framework aiming at the realization of carbon neutrality by combining Brazil's high potential in biofuels and e-fuels with Japan's high-performance mobility equipment such as hybrid engines. He also stressed the importance of people-to-people exchanges, and expressed his hope that the exemption of short-term stay visa will further encourage such exchanges.

3. In response, Vice President Alckmin expressed his appreciation for the contribution of Japanese companies to the development of the Brazilian industry to date. He also expressed his desire for continued close collaboration between Japan and Brazil under the newly launched initiatives and for the enhancement of economic ties between the two countries in full collaboration of both the public and private sectors. He mentioned the importance of Nikkei people (Japanese immigrants and descendants) as well.