and the treaties signed with this bloc's member economies have allowed more than 5,200 Peruvian companies of different sizes to trade with similar Asian entities, Ambassador Carlos Vasquez, Chairman of the APEC Peru 2024 Senior Officials' Meetings (SOM Chair), highlighted.
"There are already tangible benefits that the population has been reaping" from Peru's membership at APEC, the diplomat told Andina news agency.
Vásquez specified that, according to figures by ComexPeru thru 2022, "more than 5,200 companies have traded with this region of the world, of which 3,700 are micro, small, and medium-sized companies."
"There needs to be many more," he added.
Free trade agreements
In the diplomat's opinion, "the APEC platform has allowed our economies' leaders to meet regularly every year, and that has given rise to a virtuous circle in which we negotiate free trade agreements with many of these economies."
"If we are successful and these agreements or the negotiations of these agreements advance significantly, we could announce, perhaps this year, a new free trade agreement," Vasquez said.
Thus, "Peru would have 16 treaties of this type," he underscored.
The diplomat said that these agreements "grant preferential access to Asia-Pacific markets with a reduction in the payment of tariffs and facilitation, for example, of customs procedures."
This is seen in cases of exports of products subject to sanitary and phytosanitary permits, and the permits corresponding to these, which allow the entry of items produced in Peru to those markets, he noted.
Digitalization of companies
Thus, they will be able to reduce transaction costs, having direct access to APEC economies.
"That is what interests entrepreneurs: having closer and direct contact," he concluded.