Peru boosts trade ties with UAE amid billion-dollar export year

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Peru has hailed its deepening ties with the UAE following a bumper year in which the Latin American nation recorded $1 billion in total exports to the Emirates.

Export levels from Peru to the UAE have increased substantially in the past decade, reaching an aggregate total of more than $4.1 billion for the 10-year period from 2012 to 2021, Peru’s Trade, Tourism, and Investment Office in the UAE and GCC, said.

Amidst the worldwide halt, after reaching for the first time the billion-dollar mark in 2019, numbers are on path towards the same. A readaptation to new structural market demands, refocusing of activities and strategies as well as repositioning synergies between stakeholders have kept Peruvian exports to the UAE on a sustainable trend.

UAE’s imports

The UAE imports significant quantities of goods from the South American country including avocados, quinoa, berries, mangoes and asparagus, amongst many others, as well as gold -primary export-, high-quality craft products and clothing.

The data also reveals a substantial flow of capital between the two nations, with Peru being the second-biggest investment destination of the UAE in South America, and Peru the third-biggest investor in the UAE from Latin America, according to official figures from the UAE’s Ministry of Economy.

Since 2010, major UAE names such as DP World and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority have made multi-million-dollar investments in the country’s shipping, logistics and energy sectors thanks to the increase in trade and improving bilateral relations.

Timeless, Always Peru

Under the theme ‘Timeless, Always Peru’ –conceptualisation crafted by Peru locally- the pavilion presented an opportunity to introduce Peruvian products to a wider consumption base and thus a weaving of increase in demand.

The country also increased its participation in Gulfood 2022, with a record number of 27 companies.

Alvaro Silva-Santisteban, Director of the Trade, Tourism & Investment Office of Peru-GCC, commented: “The UAE and Peru may be 14,000 kilometres apart and nine time zones difference, but ever-deepening trade ties have brought our nations closer together, being this path only the beginning.

Sustainable path

“Despite the impact of worldwide occurrences, last year saw our exports on a clear and sustainable path towards 2019 levels -overpass the one billion of exports-. Readaptation, Refocusing and Repositioning has been essential thus an ever-evolving process.”

“The UAE is a catalyst to amplify our reach onto new markets whilst setting trends for new sectors to develop, thus a prominent base for economic drivers to further expand. Forward thinking, pragmatism, planning, strategy and flexible decision making are fundamentals that have allowed us to believe even further on our relations and contribute to new levels and scaling in the coming years.”

Bilateral relations between the UAE and Peru – a country of 33 million people – strengthen since the opening of Peru’s Trade, Tourism and Investment Office in 2011, and in recent years the two nations have witnessed a remarkable increase in official visits to further solidify commercial exchange.

Avenues of cooperation

Increasing trade relations with Latin American nations have long been on the agenda for the UAE, with the recent Global Business Forum Latin America (GBF) exploring new avenues of cooperation with countries in the region.

A key area of discussion at the forum was how the Latam region could play a role in meeting Dubai’s target of increasing its global trade from the current AED1.4 trillion ($380 billion) to AED2 trillion over five years.

Also under discussion was the role that Dubai Chamber of Commerce’s three international offices are playing to promote commercial opportunities between Latin American and Caribbean countries and Dubai and the UAE.