The South American bloc consists of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.
Official sources said both leaders also discussed issues on the bilateral agenda to strengthen the strategic partnership and trade between the two countries.
In 2024, Brazil will lead the G20, a group of the world's 20 largest economies.
According to sources, Lula and Kishida addressed cooperation between Brazil and Japan in multilateral international forums in favor of peace, democracy and the eradication of poverty – priority issues for the South American country during the G20 presidency.
“President Lula thanked the invitation he received from Kishida last year to attend (as a guest) the G7 Summit (Group of the World's Seven Largest Economies) in Hiroshima and expressed his wish that Japan take part in all should be involved in “G20 discussion forums this year,” says the presidency statement.
It said the Brazilian president “highlighted the need to bring the debate on climate change and renewable energy to the center of G20 discussions.”
He also said that “at the G20 summit, Brazil will launch a global alliance against hunger and poverty and that overcoming inequalities is essential to defending democracy.”
Brazil and Japan will complete 130 years of diplomatic relations in 2025.
On the other hand, according to the Planalto Palace, headquarters of the executive branch, the former union member expressed his solidarity with the Japanese people and in particular with the victims of the January 1 earthquake.
The magnitude 7.5 phenomenon that hit the Noto Peninsula and the more than 1.2 thousand aftershocks that followed caused buildings to collapse and sparked fires. As of January 9, 202 deaths have been recorded.
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