Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, Minister of State attached to the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, met with Liz Cramer, Minister for Industry and Commerce of Paraguay, during her visit to France at the head of a delegation of companies.
Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, Minister of State attached to the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, met with Liz Cramer, Minister for Industry and Commerce of Paraguay, during her visit to France at the head of a delegation of companies.
Bilateral relations are punctuated by political consultations at senior official level. The most recent were held in Asunción on 8 April 2019. The key themes of our bilateral relations include academic and professional mobility, poverty reduction, democratic and economic governance and cooperation in the field of health.
Consular services: Consulate-General of France in Buenos Aires (the Embassy in Asunción is a diplomatic presence post with limited staff).
French community: 1,300 (2017).
(Paraguayan community in France: 500)
With the exception of General de Gaulle’s visit during his tour of South America in 1964, no bilateral visits took place between France and Paraguay during the dictatorship of General Stroessner (1954-1989). Bilateral relations resumed at the highest level with the visit to Paris of President Wasmosy in April 1994 (the first visit by a Paraguayan Head of State to France, followed by another in December 1995). The French President visited Asunción in March 1997 and President Duarte Frutos visited France in 2006.
Since then, there have been regular contacts between the two countries and these have increased significantly since September 2015:
For further information, please visit the French Embassy in Paraguay website (in French).
French Ambassador in Asunción: Ms Sophie Aubert (since October 2017)
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Paraguayan Ambassador in Paris: Emilio Giménez Franco (since July 2012)
Paraguay, which is France’s 16th-largest market in Latin America, remains a modest trading partner for France. However, our exports have increased sharply, more than doubling since 2010. In 2018, French exports reached €62 million and imports €30 million. They are largely dominated by chemicals and pharmaceuticals, perfumes and cosmetics.
France’s commercial presence focuses on the medicines and vaccines sector (Sanofi), perfumes and cosmetics (L’Oréal), the automotive industry (Renault, PSA, Michelin, Total), agricultural machinery (Kuhn), agri-food and chemicals (Louis Dreyfus, Roullier Group fertilizers), and the service sector (Oberthur Technologies, CMA-CGM (sea transport), and AXA Assistance insurance). The Accor hotel chain signed a franchise agreement to build an Ibis hotel which opened in September 2010, while a second hotel has opened in Ciudad del Este. Cereals, in particular soybean, and oilseeds, are the top Paraguayan exports to France, followed by spices, essential oils, sugar, yarns, and meat. The presence of French brands is not always represented in the trade balance, as certain products (vehicles) are assembled in or imported from Brazil or Argentina. Finally, the Vatel group opened a hotel school in Asunción in March 2012 and is now established in the premises of the Alliance Française in Asunción.
French firms are showing a growing interest in the opportunities offered by Paraguay, with the help of the Franco-Paraguayan Chamber of Commerce.
Educational and linguistic cooperation with Paraguay is being developed through the national BECAL grants programme, which aims to offer 1,500 scholarships to the best Paraguayan students to study in one of the world’s top 350 universities. In 2019, a convention was signed with Campus France to manage mobility grants for Paraguayan students within the framework of the BECAL programme. In 2017-2018, France hosted 150 Paraguayan students, making it the fifth-most popular destination abroad for students from Paraguay.
Cooperation relies locally on the dynamism of the Alliance Française centre in Asunción (more than 1,600 students) and the Marcel Pagnol French International School (577 pupils, 132 of whom French). Both institutions have undergone significant modernization in recent years. The Molière Room at the Alliance Française, which was the only place of open debate under the dictatorship, was renovated in 2010. The School, which had only 260 pupils in 2007, is developing a new construction project which could bring the number of students to 700.
Our cultural cooperation, despite having a limited budget, enjoys a high profile in Paraguay. For 17 years now, we have been organizing the country’s main Visual Arts Award (Matisse Prize) with the Gente de Arte Association. We maintain close cooperation with key cultural institutions and events: the International Film Festival, the International Harp Festival, the National Symphony Orchestra and the Museo del Barro. France organizes now-regular events including the Francophonie Festival and the global Music Festival (Fête de la Musique).
In the field of scientific and technical cooperation, Paraguay has joined the French regional research networks including MATH-AmSud and STIC (ICT)-AmSud. A Pierre and Marie Curie prize has been awarded every year since 2003 to Paraguayan high school students in the scientific field. Cooperation between France and Paraguay in matters relating to healthcare goes back a long way with France playing a historical role in creating the university hospital service in Paraguay. The Paraguayan Ministry of Health and the Paris Hospitals trust’s private subsidiary, AP-HP International, signed a memorandum of understanding in late 2019 on a feasibility study funded under the Private Sector Aid Fund (FASEP), with a view to renovating the National Hospital of Itauguá, the country’s largest hospital, which was built by French companies.
Letters of intent regarding cooperation projects have been signed in the fields of defence and meteorology (2016) and military archaeology (2018).
Updated: January 2020