QUITO: Ecuador and Mexico made "significant progress" toward a Productive Integration Agreement during the ninth round of talks in Quito from May 23 to 27, according to the Ecuadorian Ministry of Production, Foreign Trade, Investment, and Fishing.

"Both countries' negotiating teams held high-level technical meetings in which significant progress toward closing the agreement was made," the Ministry said in a statement on Monday.The latest round of talks focused on market access, origin rules, sustainable fishing, commercial defence, institutional issues, and services and investment.  

According to the Ministry, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso urged the talks to reach a Productive Integration Agreement in order to strengthen their respective economies. Mexico's Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade, Luz Maria de la Mora, and her Ecuadorian counterpart, Daniel Legarda, were also present, as were representatives from both countries' private productive sectors.

Negotiations for the trade agreement began in 2019, paving the way for Ecuador to become a full member of the Pacific Alliance trade bloc. The bloc, which includes Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru, has the world's eighth-largest economy and accounts for 38% of Latin America and the Caribbean's GDP.

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