The presidents of South Korea and Paraguay agreed today in Seoul to strengthen cooperation to strengthen the investment of South Korean businessmen in the South American country and take an important impetus to industrial development.

At the meeting held at noon at the Blue House, President Fernando Lugo urged his counterpart, Lee Myung-bak, to support technology transfer of South Korean companies to Paraguay, said the presidential office in Seoul.

Both attended also the signing by ministers of both countries of a memorandum of understanding that lays the groundwork for future cooperation in water resources between South Korea and Paraguay.

Lugo, who yesterday used his visit to the Expo in Yeosu to promote Paraguay as a tourist destination and investment, today urged Lee to share its technology and expertise in various industrial areas.

Paraguayan President also expressed hope that Seoul expand the development cooperation, which currently holds the South American country, while Lee requested support for firms and entrepreneurs from South Korea in Paraguay.

Earlier, Lugo attended, accompanied by three ministers and several leaders of public and private corporations in Paraguay, to a meeting with South Korean businessmen, including the presidents of the shipyard Hyundai Heavy Industries and the Korea Institute for Industrial Economies.

There, the Paraguayan representatives to local managers showed the “great opportunities” offered by Paraguay investment, which is becoming “a gateway to Mercosur” in Asia, according to the director of the Investment and Export the country (REDIEX), Oscar Stark.

Stark, who referred to the complementarity of South Korean and Paraguayan economies as the basis for future growth of bilateral trade and investment, also said his country is able to offer South Korean companies to be installed there a power “stable “prices” very competitive “.

In addition, within 12 to 24 months, South Korean shipyards could start a project of 50 million dollars in the Paraguay River, about 60 kilometers south of Asuncion, told the director general of the Paraguayan construction CDD, Reinaldo Delgado, a member of the delegation of Lugo.

The official also expressed confidence that South Korean businessmen confirm their interest in the future project, still in its infancy, to expand the railway network in Paraguay.

Later, the Minister of Economy and Knowledge in Seoul, Hong Suk-woo, and the Minister of Industry and Commerce of Paraguay, Francisco Rivas, signed a memorandum of understanding to encourage South Korean investment in industrial parks in Paraguay.