President Oscar Arias and El Salvador's Antonio Saca signed an accord yesterday promising to cooperate on tourism, technology, trade and regional integration.

Speaking at a press conference in San José, Arias said Costa Rica would help El Salvador develop sustainable tourism, while El Salvador will help the Costa Rican government use more technology and better nurture small businesses.

Next week, El Salvador will host the third round of negotiations for an accord between Central America and the European Union, which will include political cooperation, E.U. aid and free trade.

Saca said he respected Arias' decision thus far to shun other regional integration efforts such as the Central American Parliament (Parlacen) and the Central American Court of Justice.

“I hope Costa Rica joins,” he said. “But we're going to respect Costa Rica's timeline and its decisions.”

The two presidents discussed crime, but Arias distinguished his country's problems from those plaguing the rest of Central America, where Saca said gangs are wreaking havoc.

“Fortunately, our problems are less worrisome,” Arias said. “Here we have seen an increase in robberies.”

Still, drug traffickers have descended on Costa Rica in recent years, and the government is investigating inroads by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).