The Vice Minister of Foreign Trade, Theresa Meraargued that the negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with India have resumed their course, amid high expectations because Peru will host the next meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).
As part of the Foreign Trade and Competitiveness Web Seminar organized by Comex, Mera said that the round of negotiations with Indonesia will begin soon.
“In addition to the negotiations with Hong Kong and optimizing the agreement with China, the next talks with Indonesia have already been launched to see on what date we start the negotiation rounds,” the official said.
In this sense, he said that another of the objectives of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism (Mincetur) is to access some pending markets in Central America, where Peru is still seeking a greater role.
“We have also knocked on the doors of India and sent a communication to its government, expressing our interest in resuming the negotiation process, in addition to, of course, some Central American countries with which we still do not have trade agreements,” he explained.
For his part, the APEC general coordinator of Mincetur’s Multilateral Affairs Directorate, Julio José Chan Sánchez, reported that the FTA with Hong Kong will contemplate, in addition to a chapter aimed at investments, a bilateral investment agreement.
Last year, within the framework of the trade ministers’ meetings in Bangkok, Thailand, the heads of Peru and Hong Kong agreed to start explorations for a FTA negotiation.
Progress was made quickly and the terms of reference were agreed in November 2022. The first round of negotiations took place on February 6 and the second is taking place these days in Lima, after a week of previous virtual meetings to discuss other issues.
“In this case, progress has been rapid. The FTA with Hong Kong is going to comprise 17 chapters in principle and, in addition to the commercial investment chapter, it has been agreed to negotiate a bilateral investment agreement with Hong Kong that will be negotiated at some point. with the MEF,” he said.
Peru and the FTA with Hong Kong
92% of Peru’s exports are non-traditional goods, and Hong Kong is one of its main destinations globally. This market represents an important logistics and financial hub due to its strategic geographical location.
Despite the fact that Hong Kong itself applies a zero-tariff policy, Mincetur considers that promoting an FTA will guarantee a flow of exchanges free of this type of tax in the future, in case the commercial conditions of that region change.
Hong Kong is the third destination for non-traditional exports from Peru. Mincetur expects that shipments to the Asian market will increase significantly with an FTA.
Peru is the fifth supplier of fruit to Hong Kong, a nation that in 2021 became our fourth destination for this type of export. Among the products that are shipped the most are figs, avocados, blueberries, tangerines, pecans and tangelo.
Source: Larepublica
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