The Israeli cabinet on Sunday approved a plan worth of about 14.5 million U.S. dollars to strengthen economic ties with the Pacific Alliance and other Latin American countries, according to the Israeli Prime Minister's Office.

The plan includes reopening the Israeli embassy in Paraguay, setting up two new commercial attaches' offices in Chile and Peru, cooperating with the Inter-American Development Bank on a designated fund in industrial research, and further supporting Israeli embassies in Mexico, Colombia and Costa Rica.

It's also expected to boost the number of incoming tourists from Colombia and Mexico for the next three years, and seal more trade and research agreements with Latin American countries.

"We are making a concentrated and focused effort to vary our markets, from our previous dependence on the European market, to the growing Asian and Latin American markets, in which Israel needs to take a small market share and bring about growth, employment and social welfare," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

The Pacific Alliance, established in June 2012, is a trade block that includes Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, and Costa Rica. Israel became one of its over 25 observer states in February. Other observers include Australia, Canada, China, the United States, Britain, France and Germany. The bloc' gross national product surpasses two trillion U.S. dollars, making it the eighth largest economy in the world.

Israel's annual exports to the bloc's countries stand about 864 million U.S. dollars, merely one percent of its overall exports, according to official statistics.

The country faced a growing threat of economic boycott in the past several months from the international community, especially from the European Union, as a result of its settlements policy in the West Bank and east Jerusalem. Those settlements might compromise Israel's cooperation in various areas with European countries.