Bogota, August 5 (RHC-PL) – In the coming three years, Colombia expects to sign about 170 international agreements on security, agriculture, education, and science and technology, with a view to a possible post-conflict scenario. Foreign Minister Maria Angela Holguin made the announcement during a meeting with President Juan Manuel Santos, in which she said these initiatives will be very useful for the following stage after peace is signed.

Since November 2012, the government and the FARC-EP have been holding dialogue, based on five items to end the conflict, which has lasted more than 50 years, and it is expected that talks with the National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrilla will also begin.

During the meeting with the president, the minister stated that those agreements are framed in the post-conflict stage, "in what we have been working with many countries, all support is to agriculture sector, science, technology and innovation."

She noted that those projects will be focused on issues such as education, scholarships, and university exchanges in areas of innovation, which can also help in certain areas. "What we want is to focus on the post-conflict issues until 2018," she said.

Governments in Latin America, Europe and other nations worldwide have given support to the Colombian peace process, and expect to reach a satisfactory conclusion to end the oldest armed conflict on the continent.