Sources close to the delegation accompanying Lula said that both leaders spoke for about 40 minutes on various topics, such as the trade agreement between the Common Southern Market and the European Free Trade Association.
This last bloc is a free trade zone of countries that do not belong to the European Union, consisting of Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein, which is being discussed in the diplomatic sphere.
The two leaders also discussed Brazil’s presidency of the G20, a group made up of the world’s 20 largest economies and the EU, which runs from December 1 to November 30, 2024.
Likewise, Switzerland’s interest in taking part in the group’s discussions.
Berset acknowledged that his country welcomes the change in Brazil’s environmental policy and the South American giant’s role in the fight against climate change.
On this topic, both highlighted the unusual heat wave hitting Brazil this week and spoke about the extreme weather events that recently occurred in Rio Grande do Sul and Libya.
Likewise, the Swiss president pointed out that he has great sympathy for Brazil, saying that a few years ago he lived in Olinda, a municipality in the state of Pernambuco (northeast).
He revealed that he is interested in visiting the South American country in the near future.
Brazil and Switzerland have alliances in science, technology and innovation. In bilateral cooperation, projects in areas such as neuroscience, health, energy and environment stand out, with a perspective of cooperation in the areas of nanotechnology, information and communication technologies, renewable energies and humanities and social sciences.
In 2022, bilateral trade between the two nations was $3.6 billion.
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