In the first half of the year, Peruvian agribusiness exports to Southeast Asia totaled US$187 million, reflecting a drop of 36.1% year-on-year.

In the wake of these figures, an effective work agenda becomes urgent to take better advantage of these markets, said the Exporters Association (ADEX).

The director of the Global Economy and Business Research Center (CIEN-ADEX), Edgar Vásquez, indicated that there are indeed Peruvian products that are being exported in significant quantities, but for various factors do not reach positioning in the member countries of the Southeast Asian Nations Association (Asean): Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

"In agribusiness, grapes are the most shipped Peruvian fruit to the world, exceeding US$1 billion in 2021. In parallel, these nations import it from the world for more than US$ 1,054 million, however, Peru only represents 2% of that total. The figure is similar to fresh mandarins, avocados, blueberries, among others," he explained.

Vasquez added: "We are taking advantage of opportunities little by little but the potential of this block is still very large and the participation is very low. This is a clear sign that we must take a better look at these destinations, open up more opportunities, look at the cases where trade agreements do not yet exist, finalize negotiations, and complement them with an aggressive agenda of sanitary opening that will allow our leading products to position themselves".

He recalled that last year Peru imported almost US$2.2 billion from Asean members, while shipments only amounted to US$653 million.

In addition, he said that we should not lose sight of the Free Trade Agreements in force with Thailand and Singapore. "In the case of Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam, we are united by the Trans-Pacific Agreement, although the latter two have not yet been ratified," he pointed out.

Cocoa and fresh grapes

Primary exports to Southeast Asia totaled US$ 81.6 million in the first six months of the year, dropping 60.5% and accounting for 43.6% of the total. Mining led this sector with US$ 65.5 million thanks to copper and its concentrates. Its main destinations were Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.

Non-traditional exports amounted to US$ 105.4 million, an increase of 22.3%. Agribusiness (US$ 36.2 million) was the most important subsector, growing 23.7%, followed by fishing for direct human consumption (US$ 28.5 million) and non-metallic mining (US$ 17.4 million).

The most demanded food products were: cocoa beans and fresh grapes, which went mainly to Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Singapore.