Leaders attending the 23rd Ibero-American Summit pledged here Saturday to make the mechanism more efficient so as to promote political dialogue and cooperation talks, according to a statement issued after the meeting.

The statement, approved by heads of states after two days' meeting, said that the leaders agreed to focus on cooperation goals targeting for reducing poverty and technological gap, and opening new possibilities for regional development and growth.

The leaders also agreed to identify new priorities for renovating Ibero-American cooperation and giving priority to common interests.

Another goal is to focus on creating Ibero-American spaces for knowledge, culture, social cohesion and economy, the statement said.

The document also proposed to return to normal the contact with the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, as well as its relations with the European Union.

Leaders of Ibero-American countries will meet every two years, instead of annually, after the 2014 summit to be held in Mexico's gulf coast state of Veracruz.

The leaders paid tribute to the outgoing Secretary-General of the Ibero-American General Secretariat Enrique Iglesias.

The 23rd Ibero-American Summit was held in Panama City, capital of Panama, from Friday to Saturday, under a theme featuring "The political, economic, social and cultural role of the Ibero-American Community within a new global context."

The idea of holding an Ibero-American Summit is to provide a forum for the world's Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking nations.