South Korea and Paraguay have signed a bilateral Trade and Investment Promotion Framework(TIPF) to deepen related ties. 

According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on Friday, Minister for Trade Cheong In-kyo and his Paraguayan counterpart, Javier Gimenez, signed the TIPF in a ceremony in Seoul. 

The framework seeks to expand mutually beneficial economic cooperation and address new trade issues such as supply chains, green energy, the digital sector, and biotechnology, but unlike a free trade agreement, it excludes tariff negotiations and pursues the deepening of practical industrial relations.

Paraguay is the second Latin American nation South Korea has inked a TIPF with, after Brazil. 

After the signing, Cheong and Gimenez held talks to discuss ways to utilize the TIPF to expand bilateral economic cooperation and exchange opinions on progress in efforts to seek a trade agreement between South Korea and South America’s MERCOSUR bloc that encompasses Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.