Peruvian President Ollanta Humala and his Colombian counterpart Juan Manuel Santos preside over the First Binational Cabinet meeting, held in the Amazon city of Iquitos in northwestern Peru to cooperate in improving communities along their shared border.
The key event, taking place at Peru’s naval base facilities located in the rain-forest region of Loreto, convenes authorities of the two countries to discuss about governance, social and development affairs, trade opportunities, security and defense, and border issues.
This two-nation meeting confirms the excellent relations between the two neighboring countries. Its purpose is to further enlarge the bilateral agenda and boost sectoral cooperation, especially in the common border area.
It should be noted both presidents inked a Joint Declaration during a two-day official visit to Ecuador by President Ollanta Humala on February 10-11. In the document, the two leaders confirmed the joint cabinet meetings were going to take place since then.
In June last year, Peru and Colombia signed two other deals aimed at strengthening bilateral ties through increased trade and binational cabinet meetings.
Former Peruvian Foreign Minister Eda Rivas inked, at that time, a Joint Declaration and a Border Development Plan with her then Colombian counterpart Maria Holguin while meeting in Peru's capital city, Lima.
In the Declaration, Rivas and Holguin reiterated their commitment to trade cooperation, taking into account that both countries are members of the Andean Community of Nations (CAN), the Union of South American Nations (Unasur) and the Pacific Alliance, among others.
The two sides also agreed to hold annual binational cabinet meetings each year, as Peru and Colombia each separately does with Ecuador, to continue to cooperate in improving communities along their shared border.
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Published: 9/30/2014