The US will continue to be Guatemala’s strongest trading partner for agricultural products in the years to come, while a potential free trade agreement with Canada could further widen the Central American nation’s marketing avenues in North America.
Guatemala currently exports roughly 42 per cent of its agricultural output to the US and 37 per cent to Central America.
Although just 6.1 per cent heads to Europe the Guatemalan Exporters Association (Agexport) says it is concentrating efforts to improve its position in Europe given that the region ranks as one of the world’s strongest importers of fresh products.
But regardless of the focus on Europe, Agexport is confident that Guatemala’s trading activity in the US will maintain a similar level to the percentages seen in previous years.
“The US continues to be Guatemala’s strongest trading partner for agricultural items,” Mónica Figueroa of Agexport told Americafruit.
“Guatemala is the largest banana and melon supplier to the US. We are also the second largest snow pea exporter to the US.
“To reflect that we plan to participate in two important trade shows in the country this year: the PMA Fresh Summit and the New York Produce Show & Conference in December.”
In Canada, meanwhile, Agexport revealed that efforts are being made to reactivate the subject of a free trade agreement between the two nations.
The full report is published in the February/March issue of Americafruit.
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