Peruvian exporters strive to seek opportunities in the Russian market, said Miguel Ognio, chairman of Adex (Agribusiness Exporters Association) Peru, in an interview with Xinhua.
According to him, many exporters from Adex have shown considerable interest in the demand for food required by the Russian market, a need for which Argentina, Brazil and Chile are already taking advantage.
"Russian buyers have come to this fair because Moscow banned the purchase of products from Europe. This is positive for Peru, we can supply them," said the executive about the Expoalimentaria 2014 fair, which was held in Lima and came to an end on Friday after three days of intense commercial activity.
According to Ognio, this fair is a great window for buyers to make contacts with Peruvian entrepreneurs and businessmen from other nationalities who gathered to discuss business.
This year, the fair drew over 2,500 buyers from five continents and the organizers invited a Russian delegation to learn about Peru's export supply.
"Next year a delegation of Adex will be travelling to Russia to promote Peruvian products and to try to place our food in that market," he said.
Ognio expressed optimism as the Russian market has a high purchasing power. "All we have to be careful about in this new market is to find customers that pay without a hitch," he said.
Adex's chairman knows that Peru mustn't rush and place its products blindly in the Russian market. They must perform a study and analysis of their potential market.
"The business of international trade depends heavily on trust, so one has to find reliable customers who treat your product well, seriously, and pay on time. That's the challenge," he said.
The executive believes there shouldn't be distinctions among buyers from all over the world and Peruvians because we all live in a globalized world and its economy reflects this.
"The doors are open for buyers from Russia and from all around the world, without distinction of any kind," noted Ognio.
Regard the products that could be exported to Russia, Ognio said that Peru had a variety of desirable products.
"All our food products, fruits, dairy and meat, are likely to be exported to that huge market," he said.
He said that since Russia had abandoned its traditional food suppliers they needed to be replaced by others, mainly from Latin America, among which Argentina, Brazil and Chile have a strong profile.
"The main European food suppliers for Russia were the Netherlands, Greece, France, the UK, Belgium, Italy, and most of the countries belonging to the European Union but now that Russia has banned them, we have a chance," he said.
Ognio spoke about how the onion growers in the Netherlands, which used to place their products advantageously in the Russian market before the conflict in Ukraine, lost their market after the Russian ban.
"Now the Dutch are looking for somebody in Latin America that wants to buy the onion production they couldn't sell to Russia," said the Peruvian business leader.
The conflict in Ukraine, which has unleashed a political crisis between Russia, the United States and the European Union, threatens to deepen the trade confrontation between these countries.
Russia offers Latin American countries a business opportunity and some countries are already taking advantage of it. In the case of Peru, business sectors related to food exports are paying close attention to the process of opening the Russian market.