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, October 14 — Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has shown his desire to visit Bangladesh in the near future, aiming to enhance relations between the two countries.

President Lula announced the news during a meeting with Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus at the FAO-hosted World Food Forum (WFF) main event in Rome on Monday, according to Deputy Press Secretary of the Chief Adviser, Abul Kalam Azad Majumder.

Both leaders participated as main speakers at the event and subsequently met in a bilateral session at the FAO offices to address issues of common concern, such as social business, universal healthcare, social integration, and approaches to fight poverty.

At the meeting, the Chief Adviser officially extended an invitation to President Lula to visit Bangladesh at a time that suits both parties. President Lula accepted the offer, stating his plan to undertake the visit by February.

“I am going to Bangladesh,” he confirmed, mentioning that Brazil is eager to exchange its knowledge in delivering universal healthcare to its people and to gain insights from Bangladesh’s innovative efforts in social business and microcredit.

Professor Yunus praises the Mayor of Rome for backing the Bangladeshi community.

“That sounds wonderful!” Professor Yunus replied.

The two leaders also discussed potential collaboration in fields like deep-sea fishing, pharmaceuticals, including efforts to make vaccines free of patents and more accessible, actions to address climate change before the upcoming COP30 conference, and the recent youth-driven protest in Bangladesh that occurred in July 2024.

Professor Yunus remembered his previous activities in Brazil, such as his 2008 meeting with the then-president and his October 2023 visit to major Brazilian cities.

President Lula invited Professor Yunus to join COP30, set to take place in an Amazonian state, aiming to bring international focus to the effort to safeguard the world’s biggest tropical rainforest.

The Head Advisor expressed gratitude to President Lula for the invitation, but mentioned that he may not be able to attend COP 30, due to his commitments in preparing for Bangladesh’s upcoming general election, set for the first half of February.