11:17 | Macas (Ecuador), Oct. 7.
Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski is in Macas city (Ecuador) as part of his visit to meet his Ecuadorian counterpart Rafael Correa and preside the 10th Peru-Ecuador Binational Cabinet.
Peru's top official and his ministerial delegation arrived at Edmundo Carvajal Airport, where presidents and foreign ministers from both countries held a private meeting.
Following the audience, both delegations headed to Macas city's High Performance Center to take part in the binational meeting. After this session, dignitaries will sign the Declaration of Macas at 1:45 pm and subsequently give declarations to the press, according to Peru's Foreign Ministry.
The Peru-Ecuador Binational Cabinet agenda covers five work axes: social affairs; security and defense; productivity and tourism; environmental, energy and mining issues; connectivity and infrastructure.
Commitment on efforts to strengthen Peru-Ecuador joint work in the fight against illegal mining will be on the table as well.
Likewise, the Binational Cabinet will serve as an opportunity to boost trade and address productive transformation and diversification in light of the global economic slowdown.
The Macas meeting is also aimed at resuming the growing trend of bilateral trade, since Peru-Ecuador commercial exchange has decreased over the last years and currently stands at US$1.6 billion.
Around 15,000 Peruvian nationals reside in Ecuador, out of whom nearly 7,000 are formally registered in Peru's consulates, whereas another significant group has already adopted the Ecuadorian citizenship.
The event constitutes Mr. Kuczynski's first official meeting with Ecuador's President Correa.
President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski and his State Ministers will also hold Binational Cabinets with Bolivia (November) and Colombia (December) this year. Such meetings will take place within the framework of joint work and bilateral relations strengthening policies.
(END) MVF/SMA/DHT/RMB
Published: 10/7/2016