Four Latin American countries have formed an alliance to improve trade, services and productivity in the region, with goals to negotiate with Asian markets, América Economía reported.

Peruvian President Alan García welcomed his counterparts Sebastián Piñera from Chile, Felipe Calderón from Mexico and Juan Manuel Santos from Colombia to sign the agreement in Lima, the story reported.

The bloc plans to negotiate trade with Asia and other trade blocs such as Mercosur, which is the largest trade bloc in South America with Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.

García said the first step of the agreement was to integrate financial markets in the second half of 2011 by forming the second largest stock exchange in Latin America, the story reported.

The agreement covers more than half of the region's foreign trade, with export values of around US$438 billion and import values of around US$418 billion, the story reported.

Photo: ANDINA/Carlos Lezama

Source: www.freshfruitportal.com