State President of Việt Nam Lương Cường (left) hosts a welcome ceremony for Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (right) in Hà Nội. — Photo courtesy of the Brazil Embassy in Việt Nam

Brazilian Ambassador to Việt Nam Marco Farani wrote to Việt Nam News on Brazil's National Day (September 7), reflecting on the country's thriving ties with Việt Nam.

From samba to solidarity, Brazil marked its 203rd Independence Day on September 7, just days after Việt Nam’s own National Day on September 2, a timely reminder that both nations share histories of emancipation from colonial rule.

It would be no exaggeration to say that diplomatic relations between Brazil and Việt Nam, established in 1989, are enjoying their strongest period. Trade exchanges have reached record levels and continue to expand, while high-level visits have never been more frequent.

The friendship between the two countries also extends to aligned visions and shared positions in multilateral forums.

Both nations recognise the urgent need to reform the United Nations to ensure its relevance in a rapidly changing world and advocate for a fair global trade framework grounded in international law.

During Brazil’s G20 presidency, Việt Nam became a founding member of the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty, underscoring their mutual commitment to eradicating poverty and promoting a people-centred development model.

As developing countries with vast tracts of tropical forest, Brazil and Việt Nam lead their respective regions in renewable energy use and jointly uphold the principle of 'shared but differentiated responsibilities' in tackling climate change.

With bilateral trade valued at US$8 billion in 2024, Brazil is Việt Nam’s largest trading partner in South America and, last year, became the first South American country to elevate ties to the level of a strategic partnership.

Since President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s return to office in January 2023, Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính has visited Brazil three times: in September 2023 for a bilateral visit; in November 2024 as a guest country at the G20 Summit under Brazil’s presidency; and in July 2025 for the 17th BRICS Summit in Rio de Janeiro, following Việt Nam’s accession as an associate member.

Brazil hopes to host a fourth visit by the Vietnamese prime minister in November for the 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) in Belém do Pará, deep in the Amazon.

In March, President Lula himself visited Hà Nội with a large delegation including several Ministers of State and the presidents of both chambers of the Brazilian Parliament.

It was only the second visit by a Brazilian head of state to Việt Nam, the first being in 2008 during Lula’s second term. On this occasion, he met with all four key leaders of the Vietnamese state: the General Secretary of the Communist Party, the President, the Prime Minister and the Speaker of the National Assembly.

During the visit, the two sides signed a Joint Declaration and Plan of Action for the Strategic Partnership, alongside other agreements, including one on the exchange of classified information, another on the work of dependants of diplomatic and consular personnel and a memorandum of understanding between the Brazilian Football Confederation and the Việt Nam Football Federation.

The Joint Declaration brought tangible outcomes, including the opening of the Vietnamese market to Brazilian beef and the lifting of sanitary barriers on Brazilian imports of Vietnamese tilapia and pangasius.

Brazil also formally recognised Việt Nam as a market economy, a long-standing request of Hà Nội, and committed to advancing negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement between Việt Nam and MERCOSUR during Brazil’s pro tempore presidency.

A Brazil-Việt Nam Trade Forum was also held, attended by representatives of more than 80 companies and opened by President Lula himself, highlighting the dynamism of the commercial dimension of bilateral ties.

In this year marking 80 years of Việt Nam’s independence, Brazil’s government has paid tribute to the resilience of the Vietnamese people.

Despite a packed schedule, President Lula visited the Hồ Chí Minh Mausoleum and the newly inaugurated Việt Nam Military History Museum, accompanied by Vice President Võ Thị Anh Xuân.

His trip to Hà Nội followed the April 2024 visit by Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira, which marked the 35th anniversary of bilateral relations.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính. — Photo courtesy of the Brazil Embassy in Việt Nam

On that occasion, in addition to holding a working meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs Bùi Thanh Sơn, the Brazilian Foreign Minister was received by PM Chính and by the chairman of the Communist Party's Foreign Affairs Committee.

Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira also opened the 'Ethanol Talks' Forum, organised by the Brazilian Embassy in partnership with Brazilian ethanol industry associations (UNICA and APLA), to promote the benefits of biofuel in Việt Nam.

The foreign minister's visit was preceded by the Brazil-Việt Nam Trade Seminar, held in March 2024 and supported by the Brazilian Export Promotion Agency (APEx), which featured the participation of Brazilian and Vietnamese businesspeople.

In November 2023, Luciana Santos, Minister of Science and Technology and President of the Communist Party of Brazil (PC do B), visited Hà Nội to lay the groundwork for future bilateral cooperation in the field of science and technology.

As a concrete result of this visit, the first meeting of the Bilateral Commission for Cooperation in Science and Technology will be held virtually on September 9.

In addition to science and technology, bilateral cooperation has been strengthening in other areas as well. During Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính's visit to Brazil in 2023, the following were signed: an Agreement on Educational Cooperation; a Memorandum of Understanding on Defence Cooperation; the Plan of Action for Cooperation in Agriculture for the period 2024-2026; and a Work Plan (2023-2025) between the Rio Branco Institute (the Brazilian Diplomatic Academy) and the Việt Nam Diplomatic Academy.

Bilateral exchanges have also intensified in other areas of diplomacy, such as parliamentary diplomacy and cooperation between political parties.

In August 2024, the president of the Workers' Party of Brazil (PT), Congresswoman Gleisi Hoffman, signed a Cooperation Agreement between the PT and the Communist Party of Việt Nam during a visit to Brasília by a Vietnamese Politburo delegation.

The President of the Việt Nam - Brazil Parliamentary Friendship Group, Nguyễn Lâm Thành, accompanied by a delegation of parliamentarians, visited Brazil from August 7 to 10, 2023.

In August 2025, the Brazil - Việt Nam Parliamentary Friendship Group paid back the visit, coming to Hà Nội on a mission led by the group's president, Congressman Márcio Honaiser.

Brazil and Việt Nam maintain two regular mechanisms of dialogue: the mechanism on Consultations on Matters of Common Interest (Political Consultations), which last gathered in August 2023, and the Steering Committee for Trade and Industrial Cooperation (which replaced the former Joint Commission mechanism), whose next meeting is expected to take place later this year.

A mission led by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Việt Nam, Nguyễn Hoà Bình, visited Brazil from October 9 to 15, 2024, to maintain contact with counterparts and discuss issues of judicial cooperation and e-government practices introduced into the Brazilian judicial system.

It is also worth noting that, reflecting Brazil's renewed focus on Southeast Asia, Brazil was admitted as an ASEAN Sectoral Dialogue Partner in 2022 at the 55th ASEAN Summit with the valuable support of Việt Nam.

President Lula during his state visit to Việt Nam in March. — Photo courtesy of the Brazil Embassy in Việt Nam

In the field of educational cooperation and the promotion of the Portuguese language, the partnership established with the Department of Portuguese at the University of Hà Nội has been very fruitful. The Portuguese programme at HANU is attended by approximately 350 students distributed across various undergraduate levels.

On September 2, Vietnamese citizens were able to contemplate the many accomplishments of the country in those 80 years since independence.

On September 7 Brazilians were dedicated to the same exercise: despite the persistence of many challenges, Brazil is among the ten largest economies in the world and Brazil's Human Development Index (HDI) places it in the "high human development" category.

In building a future of peace and prosperity for all and in the effort to transform current global challenges into opportunities for growth, Brazil and Việt Nam are moving forward together. — BIZHUB/VNS