Colombia, Chile to clinch free trade agreement
Colombia and Chile were set to reach a deal on a proposed free trade agreement, Colombia's deputy foreign minister Eduardo Munoz said here on Sunday.

In a meeting slated for Monday and Tuesday in the northeastern Colombian city of Barranquilla, the countries would address market access, customs procedures, rules of origin, trade barriers, trade defense practices, state procurement and investment rules, said Munoz.

Talks on the free trade agreement, which is aimed at strengthening and deepening a 1993 Economic Complementation Accord, began on Oct. 10 in the Chilean capital of Santiago.

Both countries wanted the final document to be ready on Nov. 27, said Munoz, who is leading Colombia's negotiating team.

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe will travel to Chile at the invitation of his Chilean counterpart Michelle Bachelet to sign the treaty on Nov. 20, following a meeting to go over the agreement once more in Bogota, Colombia, on Nov. 13.