Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has announced his intention to visit Bangladesh by February next year, aiming to strengthen relations between the two countries.

The announcement came during a bilateral meeting with Bangladesh`s Chief Adviser, Professor Muhammad Yunus, on the sidelines of the World Food Forum (WFF) in Rome, Italy.

Both leaders were keynote speakers at the FAO-organised forum and later met at the FAO headquarters to discuss shared interests, including social business, universal healthcare, poverty reduction, and social inclusion.

During the meeting, Professor Yunus formally invited President Lula to visit Bangladesh, an invitation the Brazilian leader readily accepted. “I will go to Bangladesh,” Lula confirmed, expressing interest in sharing Brazil`s healthcare experiences and learning from Bangladesh’s success in microcredit and social business initiatives.

The leaders also discussed potential collaboration in deep-sea fishing, pharmaceuticals—particularly the call for patent-free, affordable vaccines—climate action ahead of COP30, and the youth-led uprising in Bangladesh in July 2024.

President Lula invited Professor Yunus to attend the upcoming COP30 summit, which will be held in an Amazonian state to spotlight rainforest protection. Professor Yunus thanked him but said he may not attend due to his involvement in Bangladesh’s upcoming general election, set for early February 2025.

He described the election as a “real and landmark” event, claiming it would be the first fair election in 16 years, in contrast to what he called previously “fake and rigged” votes under the former regime.

The two leaders also called for increased trade and deeper cooperation between their nations.

In a lighter exchange, they bonded over football, with Professor Yunus noting Bangladeshis’ deep-rooted support for Brazil’s national team. “People in every village in Bangladesh support Brazil,” he said.

Bangladeshi advisers Ali Imam Majumder, Farida Akhter, Lamiya Morshed, and Foreign Secretary Asad Alam Siam were present at the meeting, along with several Brazilian ministers and senior officials.