PromPeru showcases country's tourism and export diversity in Colombia

Bogota, Nov 17 (EFE), (Camera: Juan Diego Lopez).- The Peruvian government, through its PromPeru Commission, has begun in Bogota an international campaign to promote its rich and diverse range of export, tourism and business investment products the country offers."After four years, thanks to a very good decision by President Pedro Castillo, it was decided to hold Expo Peru Latin America, that is, Peru is showcasing itself in Colombia with a delegation of 70 small businesses," Foreign Trade and Tourism Minister Roberto Sanchez told EFE.The Peru Latin America Colombia Expo, which opened on Tuesday and is to continue until Thursday, also included the presentation of the "Start Your Adventure in Peru" campaign to promote tourism and consolidate the country's image in Colombia.The minister highlighted that Peruvian business people have a great opportunity to expand in a conference with more than 100 Colombian buyers "this time under a multi-sector approach, that is, trade, tourism and investment."Sanchez added that the opportunities are valuable, especially considering that Peru and Colombia are members of the Andean Community and the Pacific Alliance, two blocs that promote economic and trade integration, among other areas.According to the minister's figures, trade between Peru and Colombia last year was more than US$ 2 billion, and as of September of this year the figure surpassed US$ 1.6 billion.In addition to trade, there are currently 61 commercial flights between the two countries and it is because of "all this that we have come with our diverse businesses linked to food, textile production, clothing and agribusiness.""All this allows us to mutually take advantage of the export products that both countries have now under an approach from Peru and Colombia to the region," the head of Peru’s Foreign Trade and Tourism ministry said.NEXT STOP, BRAZILInitiatives to reactivate the Peruvian economy also include trade missions to Ecuador, Chile and Mexico, but it is in Colombia where a multisectoral mission was organized, according to Sanchez.The next stop will be Brazil, to where they will travel in March next year with a broad range of the country's ecosystem.Sanchez said that Peru's opportunities abroad are extensive because the country is "experiencing an export boom not only in mining but also in agribusiness," products that are "high in value."In this regard, the minister said that Peru has 2,500 micro-basins that give it a rich biodiversity and temperature zones that are the basis of its gastronomy, regional cuisine, handcrafts and tourism.This richness makes Peru, the minister said, "the leading culinary destination in the world, the leading cultural destination and again Machu Picchu as one of the most important destinations in the world."Machu Picchu is an outstanding Inca archaeological site due to its incredible urban design, the beauty of its architecture and the fine stonework of its buildings.COMMERCIAL PLATFORM"As PromPeru and the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism, we are in Bogota at Expo Peru Latin America Colombia, which is a very important platform we have as a sector," PromPeru President Amora Carbajal told EFE.The executive pointed out that Expo Peru Latin America Colombia means the return to face-to-face business missions, which represents a milestone for the country's economic reactivation."It is allowing us to consolidate our economic and trade links and develop a joint vision towards third markets, showing complementarities in production chains to attract more foreign investment," said Carbajal.For Felix Santisteban, general manager of Raw Food, being in Colombia is an opportunity to broaden his company's horizons."We seek to introduce and promote our Peruvian products and in this case we bring a variety of legumes such as quinoa, amaranth, which is in high demand and we know that Colombia is a legume country," the businessman explained.According to Santisteban, his company, which already has experience in exports to the United States and several European countries, is now focusing its efforts on Latin American markets because of their proximity.

SOUND BTIES OF FOOTAGE FOREIGN TRADE AND TOURISM MINISTER ROBERTO SANCHEZ AND PROMPERU PRESIDENT AMORA CARBAJAL. FOOTAGE OF PROMPERU’S EXPO PERU LATIN AMERICA IN BOGOTA.

ROBERTO SANCHEZ “After four years, thanks to a very good decision by the Peruvian government, President Pedro Castillo, it was decided after four years to hold an Expo Peru Latin America. That is, Peru has traveled to Colombia with a delegation of 70 Peruvian micro businesses in meetings with more than 100 Colombian buyers. This time under a multisectoral approach, i.e. trade, tourism and investment.”

ROBERTO SANCHEZ “And today it will no longer be a small meeting but an innovative meeting of high impact with a whole army in the good sense of the word. Not just distributors, but also producers. The producers themselves coming here for business appointments, to hold investment forums, to see how the synergy is much faster, knowing the optimal conditions that both countries have to boost their economies, their trade. We have held a Peru-Chile business meeting in Arica with PromPerú, which is our trade promotion arm. This has also been relatively large. There has been another one with a trade mission to Ecuador, Peruvian micro-entrepreneurs in Ecuador. With Peruvian micro-entrepreneurs we have also gone to Chile, to Santiago, and also to Mexico. But in this multisectoral format, a platform with a whole delegation, it is the first one, and we are preparing for Brazil. In March we will be in Brazil with this important integration and this wave, I believe, with the voice of the regions in America, the voice of the people, no?”

AMORA CARBAJAL “We are very happy here in Bogota, as PromPeru and as the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism in this Expo Peru Latin America in Colombia, in Bogota in this case. We are reactivating Expo Peru after four years without it. It is a very powerful trade platform for us. Why? Because we come with the best of exportable products from Peruvian SMEs. In this case we are with SMEs of the export sector from textile, clothing, agriculture, fishing and manufacturing. And we also have some tourism companies that want to attend and have meetings for the MICE segment. Then we also have an investment forum, to show an investment portfolio of more than 500 million dollars to Colombians, investment, projects and investments in all regions of our country. This forum is being held in parallel with a business roundtable. And with the business roundtable we now have about 900 business appointments, 54 Peruvian companies and 100 Colombian buyers from different sectors.”