Peru to India:
Let Us Develop Together

India and Peru have tremendous potential to develop together, said Juan Carlos Mathews, Executive Director, Prompex (Peruvian Export Promotion Agency), who led a Peruvian trade mission that visited this country recently. He said Peru, which had signed a trade agreement with the United States, could also act as a gateway for Indian exports to the huge North American market.

Making a presentation at the Export Import Bank of India (Exim Bank), Mathews listed the attractive features of Peru's economy, saying that the Latin American country had maintained a sustained growth in the last 56 months. “For the last eight to nine years, Peru had maintained an average growth rate of 5.0 percent. While the country posted a growth of 6.7 percent in 2005, it is expected to register a growth of 6.0 percent in 2006,” he said.
The flow of direct foreign investment (FDI) into Peru had risen steadily during the last 10 years with a large number of multinational companies expanding their operations to that country, Mathews said. The industries that some of these companies have invested include telecommunications, minerals and energy while others are involved in commercial and financial services.
Peru's economy was on a sound footing, Mathews said, indicating that the country's foreign exchange reserves comfortably covered two years of imports. The country's export growth was a steady 17 percent, he added.
Mathews said Peru offered trade opportunities in as many diverse areas as agri-business, forestry, fishing, chemicals, manufacturing of a variety of products, jerwellery and handicrafts, textiles and apparels and mining.



He said private entrepreneurship had been widespread in Peru with nearly six million people involved in the activities of commercial ventures. Quoting the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, one out of every three Peruvians was involved in commercial for industrial activities, Mathews added.
He talked about the diversity of ecological and climatic conditions of Peru that had culminated in a unique culinary and gastronomic culture, earning the country the fame of being the gastronomy centre of Latin America.
He referred to the bilateral trade between India and Peru and said that it had risen from $82 million in 2001 to $190 million in 2005. “The Potential is tremendous,” Mathews added.
Earlier, initiating the interactive session, S.R Rao, Chief General Manager, Exim Bank, spoke of the untapped trade potential existing between India and Peru.
The Peruvian Trade Mission's visit to the Exim Bank coincided with the launch of the electronic newsletter of the Indo-LAC Business, a quarterly bi-lingual (English & Spanish) magazine, sponsored by Exim Bank. Mathews clicked the computer mouse to launch the e-Zine on the Internet, which is expected to serve as many as 120,000 business clients in India and Latin America.

Potential of Peruvian products in India • Frozen giant squid, octopus and squi • Frozen mackerel fillet • Alpaca fiber • Acrylic fiber • Floors tiles of tropical wood • Maca and other natural products • Food for shrimps
• Natural dyes • Fresh grapes (red globe) • Fresh mango (kent) • Dehydrated fruits (mango, pineapple, papaya) • Evaporated milk • Pisco • Spicy sauces • Olives • Dry salty leather • Tara in dust

		Peruvian Gastronomy • The Peruvian gastronomical culture is the result of factors such as diversity and ecological and climatic reasons. • 50 Peruvian restaurants operate now in Santiago of Chile (Chile). • Typical desserts like the King Kong and chocotejas are exported to Sweden and Puerto Rico and the USA.
• The food’s taste is highly appreciated foreign tourists. • Peru attained the Guinness record of the buffet with greater diversity of the world, with nearly 950 types of dishes.

South Americans Camelids & Pisco South Americans Camelids: The main markets in 2005 were: Australia (61%) and Switzerland (38%). Pisco: In 2005, 114 thousand liters were exported, 45% more than the registered in 2004. The main markets were: USA (56%), United Kingdom (12%) and Spain (9.4%).

Lucuma & Chulucanas Ceramics Lucuma: In 2005, were exported 2,5 MT equivalent to US$ 17 thousands, 4 times more than the 2004. It is exported mainly to Australia (64%), Chile (23%) and Canada (5%).
Chulucanas Pottery: 58% of exports are sold in North American market, the UE participates with 31%, emphasizing Italy (14%) that registered an increased of 25% in 2005.