Pretoria - Peru is becoming increasingly important for South Africa as it is a vital entry point into Latin America.
Speaking at a South Africa – Peru Business seminar that took place in the capital of Lima, South Africa’s ambassador to Peru, Elsa Dry, said that the volume of trade between the two countries remains low. This as the Department of Trade and Industry (dti) is leading an Outward Trade and Investment Mission (OTIM) to Peru.
Ambassador Dry said that due to Peru’s prominent role within the region there is a lot of space for improved growth.
“Peru’s focus has shifted and is becoming increasingly important for South Africa because of a variety of reasons but mainly due to the fact that Peru is an important entry point into Latin America, especially the Andean countries and the Pacific Alliance,” she said on Monday.
Bilateral trade between South Africa and Peru totalled just less than R600 million last year.
She indicated that Peru had appointed an Economic and Trade Attaché as well as a Defence Attaché in SA during the past two years. The country is also in the process of opening more diplomatic missions in Africa, thereby expanding their footprint on the continent.
“All of these and other initiatives that the country is undertaking in order to increase its presence and importance in South Africa and Africa means that our business people need to take advantage of the opportunities availed by these efforts and work towards increasing bilateral trade between the two countries,” added Ambassador Dry.
She emphasised Peru’s strategic location as a gateway to other members of the Andean Community of Nations, namely Bolivia, Colombia and Ecuador and the Pacific Alliance countries, Chile, Colombia and Mexico.
Ambassador Dry added that during the last three years, the South African embassy in Lima and the dti have implemented various initiatives aimed at enhancing economic relations and increasing trade between the two countries.
These include the dti’s scoping mission to Peru, hosting a tourism destination training event for Peruvian travel agent in SA, setting up an SA pavilion at Perumin, a popular mining convention, hosting the South African Culinary week in Lima two years in succession, and the first trade mission to Peru undertaken by the dti last year.
She expressed confidence that the SA businesspeople would utilise the platform provided by the mission and learn more about the ever-growing Peruvian economy in order to establish a market for the variety of South African products and services.
The seminar was hosted by the Lima Chamber of Commerce and was attended by South African businesspeople who arrived in Lima on Sunday as part of the mission. - SAnews.gov.za
