The future free trade agreement (FTA) with India will aggressively increase Peruvian agricultural exports to that country, said the Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade, Edgar Vasquez.
The deputy minister said the feasibility study between Peru and India had been completed, which will allow them to start negotiating an FTA between the two countries before the end of 2016.
"The Indian officials who have been in Lima [working on the feasibility study] have to return home, report to authorities, and get internal approval. Only then will we have the possibility of starting negotiations," he said.
"All these procedures should take between two and three months. That's when negotiations towards a Free Trade Agreement between India and Peru might begin," Vasquez said in a presentation at an Agricultural Exports event organized by the Foreign Trade Society of Peru (Comex Peru).
India is a potential market for all the sectors, but it is especially relevant for Peruvian agricultural exports because of the country's fruits, vegetables, and legumes, he said.
"India is the market that consumes the most vegetables," he added. The Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism, Eduardo Ferreyros said that they expected to begin negotiations for an FTA with India this year .
Feasibility study with Indonesia
The Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade also stated that they were working on a feasibility study with Indonesia, which they expect to conclude soon, to negotiate an FTA with that Asian country.
"The delegation from Indonesia will be arriving in the coming weeks to perform a feasibility study between both countries so that we can begin negotiations for an FTA with Indonesia," he said.
The goal is that the presidents of Peru and Indonesia announce the end of the feasibility study next November at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit.
Indonesia also a major consumer of fruits, vegetables, and legumes, which would allow Peru to ship its agricultural exports to even more markets, he said.
Source: andina.com.pe