Ecuador, Panama agree to strengthen bilateral relations

Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa and visiting Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelly on Friday agreed to strengthen bilateral cooperation on a variety of issues of mutual interest.

After a meeting in Quito, the two presidents said in a joint statement that they had agreed on establishing an agenda on bilateral cooperation on issues ranging from the fight against the drugs trade and organized crime, the flow of immigrants, bilateral trade, to regional integration.

Martinelly arrived here earlier on Friday for a one-day visit.

As part of the new business cooperation, Panama announced prior to Friday's talks that visa restrictions for citizens of Ecuador have been lifted.

Ecuadorian authorities said on Friday that amid the expected boom in the flow of tourists from Ecuador to Panama, the state-owned Ecuadorian airline TAME will open a new direct flight from Quito to Panama City, according to a statement by the President's office.

Correa said he was pleased with the new partnership and described the new deal on cooperation as "very logical" in the framework of the efforts toward an increased regional integration that countries across Latin America and the Caribbean currently are undertaking.

Both presidents supported further integration of the countries in the continent and recognized the importance of social and economic immigrants who come from all parts of the continents.

This has created the necessity to ratify the need to establish legal framework that protect their rights, the two presidents said in the statement.

The two countries also agreed to set up a "Mixed Commission" in September to analyze and deal specifically with issues promoting trade and investment between the two countries, as well as other issues of mutual interest.

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