The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mauro Vieira, stated that Brazil seeks to increase its status to Full Dialogue Partner of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), the highest level of partnership with the group, which has 680 million inhabitants. The statement was made in the Thai capital, Bangkok, during an event by the Thai Commerce Council, this Thursday (10).
Brazil currently holds the status of Sectoral Dialogue Partner. It is one of ten nations in this category, including Switzerland, Germany, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, among others. In this position, cooperation is limited to specific areas and lower-level meetings. Full status guarantees participation in annual leaders’ summits, access to ministerial consultations and the possibility of negotiating multi-year action plans with all members. Currently, 12 countries are full partners, including China, the United States, Russia and all members of the European Union.
In his speech, Vieira assessed that the elevation of status “would create new institutional channels” and would allow transforming “a solid commercial relationship into a true strategic partnership”.
The high point of Brazil’s rapprochement with the organization occurred in October last year, when, for the first time, a Brazilian head of state participated in an Asean summit: President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva attended the 47th edition of the event, held in Malaysia. There, Lula declared that “the rapprochement between Southeast Asia and Brazil, from east to west, is crucial for the defense of multilateralism”.
Potential of the relationship with Thailand and Asean
The minister said he believes, in relation to Thailand, that Brazilian exports can be diversified, and cited the case of Embraer as an example of “our country’s ability to produce competitive aircraft for regional transport and specialized applications”.
The company is going through one of its best moments. In the second quarter of this year, Embraer had revenue of R$11.3 billion, a record for the April-June period, and an order backlog of US$34.5 billion (almost R$176 billion), the seventh consecutive quarterly record and 16% above the same period in 2025, according to data released by the company. The minister assessed that the modernization of air networks in Southeast Asia creates prospects for “deeper cooperation in this field”.
Vieira identified “promising opportunities for dialogue and cooperation” in the semiconductor area and cited the Thai company Siam Silicon as an example of the country’s advanced manufacturing hubs.
The minister assessed that, if current trends were maintained, Asean “could eventually surpass some of Brazil’s traditional trade relations with other major economic regions”. Vieira also cited biofuels as a product with export potential for the Asian country, considering discussions in the country about “future increases in the ethanol content in fuels”.
The chancellor also defended that the interest in the group goes beyond trade issues, and that “Brazil and Asean share a commitment to multilateralism”.
A Asean
Asean was founded in 1967, in Bangkok, Thailand, by five countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Brunei joined in 1984, Vietnam in 1995, Laos and Myanmar in 1997, and Cambodia in 1999. The most recent member is Timor-Leste, which was admitted as the 11th Member State in October last year, during the organization’s 47th summit, in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia.
Trade between Brazil and Asean reached approximately US$38 billion (more than R$193 billion) last year, making the bloc the country’s fifth largest economic partner, according to Vieira. In the last twenty years, the value of Brazil’s trade with the bloc has increased tenfold.
Brazil’s five largest partners within Asean are Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand. While Brazil’s relationship with the large G7 economies tends to generate a deficit, the accumulated balance with the five largest Asean partners is positive.
Source: www.brasildefato.com.br
