Japan and Mongolia have signed a bilateral economic partnership agreement that will expand trade and enhance the strategic partnership between the two countries.

The agreement was signed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his visiting counterpart Chimed Saikhanbileg at the prime minister's office in Tokyo on Tuesday. Over the next decade, it is expected to remove tariffs on about 96 percent of the combined total value of trade between the two countries, which was valued at ¥41.8 billion in 2012.

It will be the 15th EPA for Japan once it takes effect following Diet approval, and the first for Mongolia, according to the Foreign Ministry.