Minister of Foreign Trade Marco Vinicio Ruiz of Costa Rica

Reviewing the results of the meeting, Costa Rica's Foreign Trade Minister Marco Vinicio Ruiz said the framework to study the FTA had been set.

Ruiz said the two countries would review their macroeconomic policies, the state of trade accords in the WTO and with other countries, investment and trade promotion policies and the dispute settlement mechanism.

Costa Rica hopes that by Friday a timeline will have been set for negotiations on an association agreement between Central America and the European Union, Foreign Trade Minister Marco Vinicio Ruiz said yesterday during a press conference.

Costa Rica’s Foreign Trade Minister Marco Vinicio Ruiz said that improved relations with China were a top priority for 2008 in a press conference held yesterday.

Ruiz said the two sides discussed means of formalizing the new trade ties.

Marco Vinicio Ruiz has been Costa Rica's Minister of Commerce for a little less than a year.

As a leading figure in the Costa Rican agribusiness industry, Ruiz was responsible for coordinating the Free Trade Area of the Americas ministerial in San Jose in 1998.

and the Business Network of Hemispheric Integration.

earned several prestigious acknowledgements.

Ruiz said it is Costa Rica's goal to wrap up the negotiations by the end of this year.

Foreign Trade Minister Marco Vinicio Ruiz had what appears to be the last word on the Central American Free Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA) yesterday in the Legislative Assembly's final hearings of the agreement before it hits the main floor for debate.

After the hearing, Ruiz said President Oscar Arias' goal of having legislation passed by December is still feasible.

Ruiz said he hopes the trade pact will be sent to the floor for debate by November, but it's possible that it could see further delays beforehand.