Japan, Paraguay Agree to Conclude Investment Accord Early

December 3, 2018

Asuncion--Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Paraguayan President Mario Abdo Benitez agreed on Sunday to conclude a bilateral investment accord at an early date.

Abe, the first Japanese prime minister to visit Paraguay, told a joint press conference after the meeting at the presidential palace in Asuncion that trade and investment are expanding between Japan and the South American country and that he aims to boost the economic ties further.

Abdo Benitez said he hopes to keep Paraguay's position as a strategic partner for Japanese investors by expanding bilateral trade.

The two leaders also agreed to work closely to resolve the issue of Japanese citizens kidnapped by North Korea decades ago.

In a related development, the Japanese government signed a grant-in-aid pact to provide Paraguayan hospitals with Japanese medical equipment to help make medical services more widely available to people suffering from poverty.

During his visit to Paraguay, Abe met with Japanese Paraguayans and Japanese nationals living in the country.

"Japan and Paraguay are geographically far distant from each other but in my mind they are close because you are here," Abe said. Jiji Press