ISTANBUL, April 20 (Xinhua) -- The top diplomats of Turkey and Central American countries pledged on Thursday stronger cooperation in every field, in particular in tourism and trade.
"We have revealed a common will today to improve our political, economic and cultural dialogue and cooperation with Central American countries," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said at a meeting in Istanbul with his counterparts from the Central American Integration System (SICA) countries.
Cavusoglu highlighted Turkey's intention to develop cooperation with the SICA countries in the field of tourism and help them find their well-deserved places in tourism.
In addition, the ministers vowed to increase cooperation in trade among their countries.
Cavusoglu announced 500,000 U.S. dollars in contribution to the SICA group and pledged to boost bilateral trade, which stood at around 326 million dollars last year.
Werner Isaac Vargas Torres, the SICA's executive director, stressed the importance of Turkey's links to the group's member states, namely Belize, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama.
"We need to have important political dialogue and cooperation among us," said Torres.
