On 25 August 2015, the Secretary-General of External Relations of Brazil, Ambassador Sérgio França Danese, hosted a working lunch for the ASEAN Committee in Brasilia (ACB), namely Ambassadors of Thailand, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Vietnam, Chargé d’Affaires of Indonesia and Singapore. Ambassador José Alfredo Graça Lima, Undersecretary-General for Political Affairs II, Ambassador Francisco Mauro, Director of the Department of East Asia and Minister Maria Cristina Castro Martins, Head of the Division of ASEAN and Timor-Leste of the Ministry of External Relations of Brazil were also presented.

 

            The Secretary-General extended a warm welcome to the ACB. He expressed his views that Brazil attached much importance to ASEAN and the establishment of ASEAN Economic Community by the end of this year. He believed that ASEAN and Brazil could strengthen cooperation in many areas, especially in trade and investment, defense, social policies, agriculture, food security, tourism, sports, education. Both sides could also join force in various international fora such as the Paris Conference on Climate Changes.

 

            Mr. Pitchayaphant Charnbhumidol, Ambassador of Thailand to Brazil opined that Thailand welcomed the importance Brazil gave to ASEAN as it represented a significant step towards closer relations between the two sides and hoped that the Brazilian Foreign Minister could find opportunities to visit more ASEAN countries.

 

            In 2014, the value of trade between Brazil and the ASEAN countries reached more than USD20 billion. The group has become the sixth main trading partner of Brazil in the world and second in Asia after China.