"We were very well received, and he himself announced the resumption of negotiations with Peru and even asked his technical team to work more swiftly in order to complete this FTA," she added.
The Cabinet member recalled that the negotiations between Peru and India resumed on March 27, with the eighth round, during which the technical teams agreed on a tentative schedule of meetings.
"We have two more meetings scheduled before June of this year, and if in those two meetings we manage to agree on the products and what will be included in the agreement, this would move on to legal reviews by both countries, which takes a bit longer because each sector has to give its opinion on what we are going to include," Leon stated.
"So, if we manage to reach an agreement in two more rounds, we would move on to the reviews, which take between two or three months; as a result, we could be concluding the FTA reviews, prior to the signing, before the end of the year," she added.
The high-ranking official underscored that the FTA being developed between Peru and India will allow Peruvian products to access the world’s most populated country.
"If we manage to close that FTA this year, we would be gaining access to a market of over 1.5 billion people, with an agreement under better conditions for our exporters," Leon stated.
"We have already resumed negotiations with India, the eighth round that had been pending since last year, and it has been possible to outline the upcoming meetings and next steps," she concluded.
(END) CNA/JJN/JMP/MVB