Peru assumes Presidency Pro Tempore of the Pacific Alliance

Within the framework of the 13th Presidential Summit of the Pacific Alliance, held in Puerto Vallarta (Mexico), Peru assumed the Presidency Pro Tempore of the Technical Group of Pacific Alliance (PA) Promotion Agencies for the period 2018-2019.

This meeting, which brought together the directors of PROCHILE, PROCOLOMBIA, PROMÉXICO and PROMPERÚ and ratified the commitments adopted in the cities of Bogotá (Colombia), Cartagena de Indias (Colombia) and Puerto Varas (Chile), saw the Presidency Pro Tempore handed over to Luis Torres Paz, PROMPERÚ's export promotion director and sherpa for the Pacific Alliance business council.

At the meeting, the agencies confirmed their commitment to continue with the joint efforts, seeking to increase economic complementarity among the PA countries and maintain close cooperation in the promotion of activities geared towards commercial exchange, the attraction of foreign direct investment and internationalization in strategic areas for the four countries.

They will also continue to strengthen international cooperation by carrying out joint activities, work plans that permit company internationalization, improving export promotion and encouraging the attraction of foreign direct investment.

Priority will be given in this term of office to the plan to promote trade and investment in Asian markets, candidates for associate states and priority observers; high value-added sectors such as Services and Industry 4.0 will be promoted mainly, as well as those linked to the food sector (superfoods) and fashion; in addition to encouraging the internationalization of business innovation in PA countries and production chains for SMEs.

It will seek to advance the PA exporting community with the digitalization of Promotion Agency services, especially market intelligence information; implementing strategies to promote joint e-commerce projects for priority sectors and lines, with a focus on Asian markets; and promoting potential production chains, with specific business programs such as tenders with multilateral agencies, international supply chains and public procurement, among others.

IN FIGURES

Total exports to other PA members amounted to US$2.13 billion in 2017. Non-traditional exports from Peru to the PA countries grew by 2.4% between 2016 and 2017, from US$1.47 billion to US$1.50 billion.

Mainly due to the upturn in exports from steel and metallurgy (237/+15.4%), metal-mechanical (166/+20%) and wood and paper (106/+18.6%) industries.

Furthermore, in 2017, 934 SMEs exported non-traditional products to Pacific Alliance countries, representing 53% of export shipments.

The services export sector also has great potential for PA members. The sector grew 17% in 2017, a record figure in the last five years. This result was due to the increase in world trade and business competitiveness, which has given Peru access to biometrics-related solutions, such as USSD biometric verification services, as well as developing the first Latin American smartwatch, among others.

Architectural and industrial designs have also been promoted in Peru, and are being accepted in the international market. There are also companies working on "digital transformation", with great success in health, industry and commerce fields.

Peru's range of animation services, which includes content creation, 2D and 3D animation and post-production, has also taken off. These companies are meeting the demand of the most prestigious advertising agencies in the United States and Central America and are expected to enter the Mexican market in the coming months.