Peru is to undertake more overseas trade missions in 2014 in a bid to boost exports and capitalise on the free trade agreements it has secured around the world. Carlos Esteban Posada Ugaz, executive director of the Institute of Foreign Trade at the Lima Chamber of Commerce, said companies should fully utilise the network of 17 international commercial offices that the country has established in order to find new export opportunities for their products.
“We have to go out and sell our products, and present ourselves as an exporting nation,” said Posada, pictured. He added that action also needed to be taken at home to increase the country’s competitiveness, for example by tightening up phytosanitary protocols.
Posada noted that more than 50 per cent of Peru’s exports were destined for the US, the European Union and China. “When it comes to increasing exports of non-traditional products, Peru has made some progress, but not as much as other countries such as Chile and Mexico,” he said.
The most recent figures released by exporter association Adex show that between January and October 2013, the value of non-traditional exports to the EU increased by 6 per cent to US$1.59bn. Agrifood exports were up 11.6 per cent, fuelled by a rise in shipments of avocados, asparagus, bananas, mangoes and table grapes, amongst other products.
