Finance ministers and bankers of member states of the Union of South American Nations (Unasur) pose for a group photo during the 2nd meeting of the South American Economy and Finance Council held in Buenos Aires, Nov. 25, 2011. An agreement was reached during the meeting on Friday to promote regional trade and boost financial mechanisms. [Photo: Xinhua]

The 12 members of the Union of South American Nations (Unasur) agreed on Friday to promote regional trade and boost financial mechanisms.

An agreement was reached during the 2nd meeting of the South American Economy and Finance Council held in the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires and its final version is expected to be discussed and adopted at the summit of state heads on Dec. 3 in Caracas, Venezuela.

"Concrete measures have been agreed upon to boost the intra-regional purchase of products" between the member countries, Argentine Finance Minister Amado Boudou told reporters.

The group said a common position on the management of the central banks' reserves and an eventual anti-crisis common fund has yet to be reached. Right now, there are "three different opinions" about how to make this agreement feasible and implemented, said a source at the meeting.

The overall value of inter-regional trade of goods and services between the 12 Unasur countries currently stands at about 120 billion U.S. dollars, officials here said.

"We are working together to absorb the impact caused by the crisis and discuss common policies which allow us to grow more, not only for this situation, but also in structural terms," said Boudou.

Also at the meeting, Argentina transferred the presidency of the Unasur's Economic Council to Paraguay, represented by Finance Minister Dionisio Borda.

The ministers agreed that Unasur "needs two or several efficient payment and compensation systems which reduce the time and costs of transactions," Boudou said.

The next meeting of the South American Economy and Finance Council is scheduled to be held in June 2012.

According to ECLAC figures, the 12 Unasur countries have 391.8 million people and are home to 68 percent of Latin America's population and 5.7 percent of the world, with a combined Unasur Gross Domestic Product (GPD) equivalent to 5.9 percent of the world GPD and reserves worth more than 570 billion U.S. dollars.