Washington, February 4 (RHC-Sputnik) -- The United States and Cuba will enhance cooperation to establish direct mail correspondence and increase counter-narcotics collaboration, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Roberta Jacobson said on Tuesday.

“On practical issues, such as establishing direct mail, counter-narcotics cooperation and oil spill mitigations among others, we agreed to continue dialogue and increase cooperation,” Jacobson said during a Senate Foreign Relations Hearing on U.S.-Cuba Relations.

New steps in promoting U.S.-Cuba cooperation will also include “increasing authorized travel and commerce, and the flow of information to, from and within Cuba,” Jacobson added.

“The regulatory changes will increase the financial resources to support the Cuban people and the emerging Cuban private sector, they will also enable US companies to expand telecommunications and Internet access into Cuba,” Jacobson specified.

Jacobson, who led a U.S. State Department delegation to high level talks in Havana last month, said that the U.S. and Cuban governments have agreed they have both “shared interests” and “sharp differences,” adding that the re-establishment of relations between the two neighbors would take time.