South Korea and the Eurasian Economic Union are moving to expand trade and investment ties that can open new business opportunities and generate economic growth, the government said Friday.

At the meeting between Trade and Industry Minister Yoon Sang-jick and his EEU counterpart, Andrei Slepnev, in Seoul, the two sides inked a memorandum of understanding calling for strengthening cooperation in trade and business investments, as well as more tie-ups in the industrial and energy sectors.

In addition, Yoon and Slepnev agreed to hold the first bilateral industrial cooperation committee meeting in 2016 so joint projects that can fuel technology and business transactions can be discussed in detail.

At the gathering attended by all the envoys from the EEU, which is comprised of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan, Yoon stressed that closer cooperation will benefit all sides.

"The economies of South Korea and the EEU are mutually complementary," he said.

South Korea is a leader in manufacturing, while many EEU member countries have abundant natural resources. Russia is rich in coal and tungsten, while Kazakhstan has one of the world's largest deposits of chromite.

The two sides, meanwhile, said they will conduct research on the feasibility of a free trade agreement down the line. A free trade pact could further cement economic ties between Asia's fourth-largest economy and the Eurasian bloc. (Yonhap)