Peruvian government is keen on expanding and diversifying the Andean nation's export supply as well as signing a free trade agreement (FTA) with Russia,the country's Foreign Minister Eda Rivas has said.
"Our goal is to expand and diversify our export supply, in particular non- traditional products, and to promote investment in general," said Rivas Franchini. “In this sense, we have proposed a free trade agreement to the Russian Federation."
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov paid an official visit to the Andean nation on April 30th to meet his Peruvian counterpart Eda Rivas and President Ollanta Humala Tasso.
At the meeting, both Peru’s official and the Russian Foreign Minister agreed their governments were interested in deepening bilateral relations with special focus on fields such as economic, trade and customs, until they reached a trade agreement.
"Peru and the Russian Federation have many common interests," said the head of the Peruvian diplomacy, "thus, a minister of the Ollanta Humala’s administration will be travelling soon to Moscow to address these issues."
The Russian-Peruvian Cooperation Joint Commission will be meeting in Moscow this year, while entrepreneurs from the Andean nation are expected to attend the Russian Latin American Trade Cooperation Forum, which will also be held this year in Moscow.
Likewise, it's worth noting that in October 2013, during the last meeting of the Working Group for Cooperation, Investment and Industry between both countries,
At the gathering, Russian representatives stated that, in order to initiate negotiations for the signing of a free trade agreement with the Customs Union (CU) of the Republic of Belarus, Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation, Peru needed to present a formal proposal to the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC).
Moreover, trade between the two countries in 2013 amounted to US$ 736 million. Nevertheless, according to the Exporters Association (ADEX), this year, the Peruvian products in Russia are set to have a potential market of US$ 5 billion.
According to ADEX, there is the chance to export pneumatic products, prepared food, cosmetics, cocoa powder and prepared or preserved fish, among other products,
freshplaza.com reported.
"Peruvian exports to Russia amounted to US$151 million last year, representing a 71 percent year-on-year increase," they stressed.
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Published: 5/6/2014