JOHANNESBURG – Trade and investment between South Africa and Peru looks poised to increase significantly in the near future if the unexpectedly high number of businesspeople who arrived for meetings with South African companies in Lima is anything to go by, South Africa-Peruvia Chamber of Commerce general manager Itala Piaggio said.
"The interest in the Peruvian companies to do business with South Africa is overwhelming," Piaggio said. "I can say without fear that the outcome of this session is going to be a positive impact on trade and investment between the two countries."
"The Peruvians have shown today that they are eager to gather as much information as possible from the South African themselves with the aim of doing business with them. This enormous appetite will translate into concrete deals,” she added.
The chamber was established in 2015 with assistance from the South African embassy in Peru to promote and strengthen bilateral trade relations between the two countries.
"At the moment there are few South African companies doing business in Peru. These include Anglo American, Gold Fields and New Concept Mining who are members of our chamber," Piaggio said.
"But we are optimistic that the companies that are here will learn more about the myriad investment opportunities that exist in the Peruvian economy, particularly in the mining and agricultural sectors."
Technological products, amongst others, offered the biggest opportunity for the South African companies, she added.
Trade between the countries grew from more than R800 million in 2016 to about R1.5 billion last year.
- African News Agency (ANA), Editing by Stella Mapenzauswa