Brazil

French presence

• French Embassy website
• French consulates: São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Recife
• French community: 19,942 on the register; about 30,000 French residents according to the federal police

Visits

Recent visits include:

• President Dilma Rousseff’s State visit to France on 11 and 12 December 2012;
• French President Hollande’s State visit to Brazil, on 12 and 13 December 2013;
• the visit to Rio de Janeiro of French President François Hollande for the opening of the Olympic Games on 4 and 5 August 2016;
• the meeting between French President Emmanuel Macron and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro in Osaka on 28 June 2019;
• the Minister Delegate for Foreign Trade, Olivier Becht, attended President Lula’s inauguration ceremony on 1 January 2023;
• the visit to Brasilia and São Paulo of the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Catherine Colonna, on 8 and 9 February 2023, who met with President Lula, her counterpart Mauro Vieira, Environment Minister Marina Silva and the Governor of the State of São Paulo, Tarcisio de Freitas;
• the visit to Brasilia and São Paulo of Minister Delegate Olivier Becht on 6 and 7 June 2023;
• the visit of President Lula to Paris on 22 and 23 June 2023 for the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact, on the sidelines of which he met with President Macron;
• the State visit of President Macron from 26 to 28 March 2024;
• the visit of the Brazilian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mauro Vieira, on 3 May 2024.

Cultural, scientific and technical cooperation

Brazil and France enjoy vibrant academic and scientific cooperation: Brazil is France’s leading partner in Latin America in terms of scientific cooperation, and France is Brazil’s number one partner in Europe with regard to academic cooperation. They have a thriving cultural relationship (2,500 students in lycées, 37 Alliances Françaises with 24,000 students), despite the gradual erosion of French-language learning. Brazil is the leading export market for the French cultural and creative industries in Latin America. A France-Brazil season will take place in 2025, marking the bicentenary of the countries’ diplomatic relations. Cross-border cooperation with French Guiana is well-structured, with the most recent Cross-Border Joint Committee held on 11 and 12 June 2024.

Other cooperation

Cross-border cooperation is a specific aspect of our relationship, given that France shares a border of over 720km with Brazil. The building of a bridge on the Oyapock River has led to growing cooperation in the fields of health, education and sustainable development, in cooperation with the Agence Française de Développement (AFD, French Development Agency). Such cooperation addresses the concerns of both parties about the various cross-border risks such as illegal immigration, security, illegal gold-washing, illegal fishing, and sanitary and phytosanitary issues. It also encourages human exchanges and trade (education, movement) and helps develop the Amazonian regional economy with due respect for local people and the environment. The most recent Cross-Border Joint Committee was held in Macapá (in the Brazilian state of Amapá, bordering French Guiana) on 11 and 12 June 2024.