Meeting today in Brasília ahead of next week’s G20 summit in London, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Prime Minister Gordon Brown said in a joint statement that 'protectionist policies would only serve to deepen the global recession'.

The two leaders expressed the hope that international action would be taken at the G20 to ‘restore global demand through concerted and coordinated fiscal and monetary policy action’, and to ‘set in train fundamental reforms to strengthen regulation of the financial sector’.

They declared their commitment to a ‘successful, ambitious and balanced’ outcome to the Doha Round of world trade negotiations, and to minimising the impact of the financial crisis on developing countries.

Brown reiterated the UK’s support for Brazil's bid to become a permanent member of the UN Security Council. The two leaders agreed on the urgency of UN reform, and on the importance of widening participation in other international institutions, such as the IMF and World Bank, in order to make them ‘more legitimate, representative and effective’.

Brazil and the UK also agreed to continue working closely on sporting links, particularly given the possibility of both countries hosting the Olympic Games and the World Cup in the next nine years. (Brazil will host the 2014 World Cup and Rio de Janeiro is bidding for the 2016 Olympics; London will host the 2012 Olympics and England is bidding for the 2018 World Cup.)

Source: Embassy of Brazil in London and Ministry of External Relations

Click here for the joint statement by President Lula and Prime Minister Gordon Brown