Cartagena, Colombia - Chile, Colombia, Peru, and Mexico voted on Monday to abolish tariffs on the 92 percent of goods and services traded between the four countries. The countries' leaders agreed on the deal during a summit of the "Pacific Alliance" in the Colombian city of Cartagena.

The Pacific Alliance is a free trade area of some 210 million people, accounting for more than a third of all Latin American and Caribbean Gross Domestic Product.

The president of Costa Rica, Laura Chinchilla, signed an agreement during the summit under which her country will enter into the alliance by 2015.

The move is a big step towards strengthening the countries' position alongside the strong neighboring trade pact – Mercosur - which includes Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

The remaining 8 percent of trade between the countries, which is mainly agricultural products, are to be brought into the pact in stages over the next 17 years, according to a protocol signed by presidents Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia, Sebastian Pinera of Chile, Enrique Pena Nieto of Mexico, and Ollanta Humala of Peru.

Only tariffs on sugar will remain excluded from the free trade treaty.

Besides establishing strong economic connections, the deal also creates a fund to finance infrastructure investment and a medicines price monitoring and leverage system.

"This translates into more investment, more competitiveness and, as a consequence, more employment. This is the fundamental purpose of this whole exercise," declared Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos.

The date that the deal comes into force will depend on its ratification by the parliaments of the four countries.

The president of Costa Rica, Laura Chinchilla, signed an agreement during the summit under which her country will enter the alliance by 2015. Panama and Guatemala have also expressed interest in becoming members.

The Pacific Alliance, founded in June 2012, was created to build a free trade zone and visa-free travel between the countries. The alliance currently represents 50 percent of the population and 35 percent of the gross domestic product of Latin America. The coalition has set a vital goal to increase trade with fast-growing Asian nations.