PANAMA CITY, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Panama Canal and the United States' Miami Port have renewed their strategic alliance in a bid to boost international trade, the administrator of the Panama Canal Authority, Alberto Aleman Zubieta, said Wednesday.

    Miami Port, an internationally recognized trade center, is a key ally of the Canal, Zubieta said after signing a memorandum of understanding with the director of Miami Port, Hill Johnson.

    Zubieta said the document, which is ratified every year by both sides, represents the attention given by the Canal and Miami Port to the growing demands of the world maritime industry.

    Johnson affirmed that his port terminal has been "set at the level of the (expansion) works" of Panama Canal, whose modernization will be finished in 2014 at a cost of 5.2 billion U.S. dollars.

    "Our port is the nearest to the canal, so we will be at a strategic position to place bigger cargo vessels as a result of the expansion," Johnson said.

    During 2007, Miami received around 2.1 million tons of freight from Panama. The terminal is also used by more than 20 maritime lines with connections to 100 countries and 250 international ports.