Higher demand for Peru's fresh produce offering in emerging markets could see yearly agricultural exports climb to some US$10bn within the next decade, up from the current annual level of US$3bn.
That is the verdict of Jose Chlimper, chief executive officer of leading asparagus exporter Corporacíon Drokasa SA, who pointed to growth potential in markets such as Russia, China and Vietnam.
In an interview with Bloomberg, the former agriculture minister said that Peru must improve its road system, as well as its sea and airports, if it is to avoid bottlenecks that currently hinder exports and limit growth of products such as asparagus, mangoes, citrus and potatoes.
'As long as the world grows at four per cent to five per cent, there'll be demand for Peruvian products,' Mr Chlimper told the publication. 'We haven't advanced in infrastructure in the past decade. We're playing musical chairs at the airports and there are bottlenecks at the ports.'
Chinese demand in particular will help boost Peru's agriculture exports by some 17 per cent to US$31.6bn this year after a drop of 15 per cent in 2009, Promperu's Juan Carlos Mathews told Bloomberg earlier this year.
