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Ecuador expects investments of about $7.5 billion in the next five years for its oil and mining sectors, Minister for Nonrenewable Natural Resources Wilson Pastor said Friday.

In a public cabinet meeting with President Rafael Correa, Pastor said that next week the country will sign important mining and oil contracts, including for mature oil fields.

Pastor also said that in February the country will sign other contracts for marginal oil fields.

The expected investment will come from these contracts.

The Correa administration is negotiating with EcuaCorriente, the local unit of Canada's Corriente Resources Inc. for its Mirador project; the local unit of International Minerals Corp. (IMZLF, IMZ.T) for its Rio Blanco project; and Kinross Gold Corp. (KGC, K.T) for its Fruta del Norte project.

EcuaCorriente is controlled by the China Railway Construction Corp. (601186.SH, 1186.HK) and the Tongling Nonferrous Metals Group Co. (000630.SZ).

Ecuador also plans to sign contracts with private companies to increase the production in four state-run Petroecuador oil fields: Shushufindi, Libertador, Auca and Cuyabeno.

Petroecuador is seeking to boost production at its mature and older oil fields by between 15% and 20%.

Production at these mature fields has been declining by up to 12% per year.

In the same cabinet meeting, Ecuador's Planning and Development secretary, Fander Falconi, said that the Ecuadorian economy grew 8% last year, according to data from the Economic Commission for Latina America and the Caribbean, or Eclac.

According to the latest official data from the central bank, Ecuador's gross domestic product expanded 9% in the third quarter of last year compared to the same period of 2010.

-By Mercedes Alvaro, Dow Jones Newswires; 5939-9728-653; mercedes.alvaro@dowjones.com

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