19:21 | Lima, Oct. 02 (ANDINA).
The Third Summit of South American and Arab Countries (ASPA) came to an end on Tuesday with a call to facilitate trade and investment and promote cooperation as the threshold of relations between the two regions.
According to the Declaration of Lima, the ASPA finance ministers' meeting, to be held in Bolivia in the first half of 2013, "will be an opportunity to raise specific issues" about these matters.
The Declaration also highlighted the need to promote food security, as proposed and supported by several delegations during the discussions in Lima.
Other topics mentioned in the document are environmental protection; sustainable development; a commitment to achieve and "go beyond" the Millennium Development Goals; the need to address priority issues such as education, health and energy; and the promotion of trade, investment and tourism.
In the document the heads of State and Government welcomed Saudi Arabia's offer to host the next summit in 2015.
(END) GCO/GCO/EEP
Published: 10/2/2012