The president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) arrives in Manila, Philippines, with a pending request before the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The Brazilian leader wants Brazil to move from being a “sectoral dialogue partner” to the status of “dialogue partner,” the highest level of relation the bloc grants to countries outside the region.
The request had already been formalized in January. Lula makes an official state visit to the Asian country on Saturday (the 14th) and will participate in the summit on Sunday (the 15th).
For Samuel Spellmann, a professor of the graduate program in Economics, and of the Amazonian Center for Studies on China at the Federal University of Pará (UFPA), the trip foreshadows Lula’s fourth term, who was reelected on October 25 and will take office on January 5, 2027.
“Lula 4 has already begun. It is a trip that has everything to be productive and it is a dialogue that begins to be established with East Asia,” he projects.
The Brazilian president will attend the summit for the second year in a row. In October 2025 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the leftist leader was the first Brazilian head of state to participate in the gathering. This time, according to the Itamaraty, Lula is expected to speak at the opening of the event, which is also unprecedented.
If the Brazilian request is accepted, the country will join the group of full partners that includes the United States, Japan, South Korea and Canada. ASEAN, an intergovernmental organization focused on cooperation in areas such as economy, politics, culture and security of Southeast Asian nations, gathers a long list of countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Brunei and Laos.
Brazil’s trade with ASEAN countries has grown at a strong pace. According to data from the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (ApexBrasil), only between January and September 2026, the group accounted for 6.5% of Brazilian exports (US$ 18.4 billion), above Mercosur.
The UFPA professor assesses that this year’s trip should serve for Brazil to reach new commercial partners “in its process of diversifying the export agenda.”
Energy and Artificial Intelligence
Spellmann points to energy security as the first axis of the trip. The topic has gained weight in Southeast Asia since the war between the United States and Israel against Iran, which interrupted routes in the Strait of Hormuz and led the bloc to discuss a joint oil reserve.
“Energy security is very closely linked to Artificial Intelligence and to the organization of WAICO. The electricity demand of these ASEAN countries is expected to grow quite a bit,” he projects. For him, the regional experience is based on a model. “These countries will organize energy resources jointly, because ASEAN already does this. It is a path for Latin America. The real question is how this learning will be used,” he explains.
The World AI Cooperation Organization (WAICO, in English) was founded in July, in Shanghai, at the initiative of China. Brazil is among the 29 founders, alongside ASEAN members such as Indonesia and Laos. The Philippines, on the other hand, joined Pax Silica, a US-led coalition, and which the U.S. State Department presents as its effort in AI and supply chain security, restricted to allies and trusted partners.
“China proposes data governance that is founded on a collectivity of common interests for digital governance. The United States does not propose [such governance],” he states, recalling Washington’s push in favor of an incentive toward a model of advanced innovation, despite the little regulation. The Donald Trump administration has already determined that companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic should not share their models with testing agencies of other countries without U.S. authorization.
The Brazilian adhesion to WAICO is not yet concluded, but the main steps have already been taken. Brazil formally signed the initiative in July, but final entry still needs to be endorsed by Congress. At the time of signing, the government stated that the process would observe applicable internal procedures, including regarding the event of the constitutive agreement.
For Spellmann, Lula’s trip should serve for the country to present its own model. “What Brazil can propose is, precisely, a new modeling so that data security is built in a strategic way, on one hand, with international cooperation; and, on the other hand, governance of energy matrices in a clean way,” he ponders.
Pork and Defense
The Brazilian trade agenda arrives in Manila with renewed problems. The Philippines were the main destination for Brazilian pork in 2005, having purchased 392.9 thousand tons, a rise of 54.5% over 2024, according to the Brazilian Association of Animal Protein (ABPA). However, on Monday (9), the Philippine Department of Agriculture announced the suspension, for 60 days, of imports of the product from all countries. The measure affects about a quarter of Brazilian pork exports.
In the defense sector, the Philippines has frequent problems with Beijing in the South China Sea, and has been expanding military cooperation with the United States.
The Brazilian industry is already present in the country and may come back from the trip with gains in its luggage. In February, during an industry event, Embraer confirmed that the Philippine Air Force ordered six more light attack aircraft A-29 Super Tucano, which will bring the fleet to twelve units. Potential new deals should be on the agenda of the presidential trip this week.
