After canceling a meeting with the prince, Lula wants to invite Saudis to Brazil to discuss investments – 06/24/2023 – Market

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) said this Saturday (24) that he will ask the Itamaraty to invite a delegation from Saudi Arabia to visit Brazil to discuss investments in the country, after canceling a dinner the day before in Paris with the Saudi crown prince. , Mohammed bin Salman.

Lula said that he “sincerely” did not think, when canceling the meeting, of the negative repercussions that the scheduled meeting had caused. The official justification for the cancellation was the president’s fatigue.

“Look, look, I didn’t think about it. Honestly, I didn’t think about it,” said Lula in an interview with journalists in the French capital.

“What I did know is that there was a proposal to have a meeting with the prince of Saudi Arabia who wanted to discuss investments in Brazil. And I want to talk to all the people who want to invest in Brazil,” he added.

Bin Salman is the target of controversy related to human rights in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi government is still accused of being involved in the death of an opposition journalist.

Lula said that he is going to ask the Itamaraty to “convene” the Saudis to visit Brazil to discuss business with Brazilian businessmen.

“You know, we are very interested in Saudi Arabia investing in Brazil, especially in terms of the energy transition, because we are going to present a large project this July,” he said.

“So, if Saudi Arabia is interested in investing in Brazil, you can be sure that Brazil will be interested in talking to Saudi Arabia, with whoever they ask to talk to.”