Official sources indicated that the President will also hold meetings this Wednesday with his Italian counterpart, Sergio Mattarella, and the mayor of Rome, Roberto Gualtieri.

The note from the Foreign Ministry states that the bilateral relationship between Brazil and Italy, elevated to the category of Strategic Association in 2007, has a wide spectrum of historical, economic and cultural affinities, in addition to benefiting from the presence of more than 30 million descendants of Italians in Brazil, “the largest of the many Italian diasporas in the world”, and more than 100,000 Brazilians residing in Italy.

Also according to the note, in 2022, Italy was Brazil’s thirteenth trading partner, the fifteenth destination of exports (1.5 percent of the total) and seventh supplier of imports (two percent of the total).

Italian investments in Brazil experienced an expansion from 2015 to 2021, when they reached 17.7 billion dollars.

According to the Foreign Ministry, in this favorable context, Lula’s visit “will be an opportunity to convey the message that one of the various aspects of the resumption of the Brazilian presence on the international scene is the strengthening of Italy’s recognition as political partner of strategic importance”.

Regarding Brazil and the Holy Site, the parties have maintained diplomatic relations since 1826 and “the institutionality of the dialogue is based on the Agreement Relating to the Legal Statute of the Catholic Church in Brazil (2008).”

As stated, the president’s visit will be an opportunity to review the expressive convergence that characterizes the bilateral and multilateral pattern of the relationship.

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