Peru’s Foreign Trade and Tourism Minister Magali Silva affirmed the commercial situation between Peru and the United Kingdom is not going to change in the following two years and will maintain its dynamism; announcement was made following the UK's decision to exit the European Union.
“Remember this [the process of withdrawing from the EU] will take two years; it’s June 2016 and the commercial situation between Peru and the United Kingdom shall not change until June 2018,” Silva told Andina news agency.
It should be noted Peru, as well as Colombia, signed a Trade Agreement with the European Union (of which the United Kingdom will not be part anymore), on 26 June 2012 and is applied since on 1 march 2013.
“The United Kingdom’s withdrawal conditions are not yet known, but we are inclined to think these conditions would be linked to issues regarding trade and investment,” Silva noted.
It is a bit premature to predict what the EU will do on the matter, but according to international analysts, the main reason of this exit is political, not commercial.
“If the exit has political motivation, common sense tells us that we should wait for the decision they will make together; they may continue the free movement of goods, services and capitals trade,” she pointed out.
The government official claimed Peru-UK relations have become more dynamic, and that the European country has emerged as an important market, mainly in terms of non-traditional exports.
“We saw a 13.5% increase last year, and a 9.8% rise in 2014, that is, an upward trend in exports —particularly of agricultural products— has been observed since 2013,” she affirmed.
Peruvian shipments to the UK last year totaled US$478 million and, of this total, 40% were traditional products, mainly gold and tin linked ones.
The remaining 60%, which is equivalent to US$289 million, were agricultural products.
(END) CNA/CNA/RMB
Published: 6/25/2016