LIMA, June 7 (NNN-ANDINA) — During the first 15 years of validity of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Peru and the United States, bilateral trade increased threefold, Peruvian Ambassador to the U.S., Alfredo Ferrero, said.
“The 15 years of the FTA are highly positive due to several aspects. First of all, our trade volume with the United States has tripled, reaching approximately $22 billion,” Ferrero told RPP Noticias.
“Exports in all areas have increased, especially the agribusiness sector, which used to export US$700 million; today, it exports (products worth) US$3.8 billion to the United States alone,” he noted.
The ambassador went on to add that “Peru is nowadays the second-largest supplier of fruits to the United States, taking into account that we are the world’s leading exporter of blueberries.“
As is known, the Peru-US FTA was signed on April 12, 2006.
It entered into force on February 1, 2009, as an agreement that includes aspects of the bilateral economic relationship such as: trade in goods, investment promotion, public procurements, cross-border services, and intellectual property protection.
Ambassador Ferrero mentioned that “the FTA has been in force for 15 years, after a very arduous negotiation that lasted three and a half years. This treaty, which was the first signed by Peru, is the great platform for all trade agreements that Peru signed later.”
The envoy indicated that the United States is a great trading partner for Peru. Thus, it is necessary to aim for increasing its investments in our country, considering that the U.S. already has an important presence in the country through companies Freeport-McMoRan, at Cerro Verde mine in Arequipa region, and Newmont.
“Peru could later become, if we have the right conditions, a technological hub; there is also a possibility, still incipient, of a space port because Peru has the conditions for that,” Ferrero said.
“These are topics that are (being) sown; they do not mature in two days, but they are placed on the agenda and worked on; so, there is interest in a technological hub, infrastructure, and, obviously, minerals and textiles,” he added.
Ferrero announced that United States’Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment, Jose Fernandez, might visit Peru at the end of August. — NNN-ANDINA
