Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met here Friday with Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff as part of a visit in which loan deals amounting to $700 million were signed for Brazil's agri-business and oil sectors.

The leaders presided over the signing of two credit agreements: Mizuho Bank's $500 million loan to Brazilian state-controlled oil company Petrobras and a $200 million loan from a group of Japanese companies to finance agricultural projects.

The loan to Petrobras will finance the construction of eight oil platforms to be used in the ultra-deep-water pre-salt region, a massive new hydrocarbons frontier that Brazil is counting on to transform it into a crude exporter in the mid-term.

Also during Abe's visit, bilateral accords were signed to strengthen cooperation in the shipbuilding industry, which Brazil has begun to revive in recent years.

Japan will offer Brazil technical cooperation in the construction of three new ports and shipyards and the training of shipbuilding engineers.

In a joint statement with Rousseff, Abe said both accords reflect Japan's willingness to establish greater cooperation with Brazil in "all areas."

"Brazil presents great investment opportunities in oil, gas and energy in general," he said, adding that "all of the Japanese companies are looking at Brazil."

Rousseff, for her part, said the country's doors are open to Japanese investment and noted that cooperation in the corporate sphere can help increase bilateral trade flows, which in 2013 amounted to $15 billion.