Chilean president Ricardo Lagos and his Panamanian counterpart Martin Torrijos agreed on Thursday in Santiago to speed up negotiations on a bilateral free trade agreement, local media reported.

Torrijos arrive in Santiago early on Thursday for a two-day visit, aiming to boost economic cooperation and trade with Chile.

Lagos said the two countries should "put negotiations into high gear" when the two sides restart them on Feb. 1, hoping the negotiations will complete at the meeting on Feb. 3.

For his part, Torrijos said the agreement to restart talks between the two countries on the free trade pact is a piece of good news.

The Panamanian president said he was optimistic over the forthcoming round of talks in Panama.

The two countries have signed a memorandum of understanding on establishing political consultation mechanisms and technical, scientific and academic cooperation.

Source: Xinhua