Colombian and Venezuelan foreign ministers announced on Thursday that they had agreed to begin building soon a gas pipeline linking the two countries.

At a joint news conference with Colombian Foreign Minister Carolina Barco following the meeting of the High Level Two Nation Commission (COBAN), Venezuelan Foreign Minister Ali Rodriguez said work on the gas pipeline would start on July 8.

The two south American countries agreed in July 2004 to build the underwater pipeline, which, initially will send gas from Colombia's La Guajira region to meet Venezuela's gas consumption needs.

Venezuela plans to use the pipeline to send natural gas to Colombia and to other markets by 2013, after increasing domestic production to meet its own needs by 2008.

The two foreign ministers also said negotiations had begun on an oil pipeline through Colombia that would enable Venezuela, the world's fifth largest oil producer, to export oil to energy-hungry countries.

They also talked of building a bridge linking the cities of San Antonio in Venezuela and Cucuta in Colombia.

Barco added that trade between the two nations would not be affected during the next five years, despite Venezuela's decision to leave the regional trade bloc, the Andean Community of Nations (CAN).

"The door is open if and when Venezuela decides to return," she said.

Barco said the two countries both faced the problem of fighting drug trafficking on the Venezuela-Colombia frontier.

But she added that the border region had seen a reduction in kidnapping and the "vacuna," a tax imposed by local guerrillas.

The first COBAN meeting was held in Bogota in July 2005.

Source: Xinhua