Italy's premier Giorgia Meloni and Brazil's president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva are set to hold talks on Wednesday in Rome at 5pm during an official visit to Italy by Lula.
"I hope we'll get to know each other better and the meetings (in Rome) will help strengthen the bond between our countries," Lula told Italian daily Corriere della Sera ahead of his visit.
After Italy, Brazil is the country with the most Italians - 30 million - Lula pointed out.
"We will have very productive talks, because our economic relations have unfulfilled potential and we need to work hard to build a relationship that matches our economies," Lula told Corriere.
Italy and Brazil have "a long history of trade and investment cooperation," he said. There are some 1,400 Italian companies in Brazil and over 20 large Brazilian firms with operations in Italy, Lula noted.
The great majority (87 percent) of Brazil's electricity is generated from renewables and the country wants to expand production of solar and wind power, Lula said.
"Northeast Brazil's potential is vast. We can become a major producer of green hydrogen and have the capacity to help the world with the energy transition," he underlined.
Lula's agenda on Wednesday also includes talks with his Italian counterpart Sergio Mattarellea, with Pope Francis and with Italy's centre-left opposition Democratic Party leader Elly Schlein.
