A 35-member food delegation from Peru was in Hong Kong earlier this month to promote the country’s premium food products. The latest government-sponsored delegation to Asia is part of efforts by the Peruvian government to promote the country’s non-traditional export sectors. Six Questions sees Peru’s Consul General in Hong Kong talk up opportunities for collaboration between Hong Kong and Peruvian business. 

What brings your latest business delegation to Hong Kong?
This is the second time we’ve organised a government-sponsored food delegation to come here. We see Hong Kong as our window to the region, especially to the formidable Chinese market. We test the waters here because markets are different. So we come here to learn about the markets of the region and China. For us, this is the perfect place to do that. As Hong Kong is a demanding market, if we can make it here, we can make it anywhere else. 

Where does Peru primarily export to and what types of products do you mainly sell overseas? 
America was traditionally our biggest market. We used to export 70 per cent to the US, 15 per cent to China, 15 per cent to Switzerland. But the state of the American economy has affected demand, so now China is our top export market.

But it is hard to get our entrepreneurs out of their comfort zone. Peruvians are very comfortable going to the US and EU markets. With the financial problems and the decrease in demand in our traditional markets, however, we have learned to diversify our exports.

We primarily export minerals and metals, which are our traditional exports. Thirty per cent of our exports are in the non-traditional sectors, which we want to diversify. They include fibres, such as alpaca and vicuna. We’re exporting alpaca worth US$140 million to China alone. We are also targeting the premium food market by increasing exports of seafood, such as giant squid, shrimp, scallops and rainbow trout.  

How do you view the Chinese mainland? Have Peruvian businesses been able to break into the market?
The Chinese market is like a dream for any Latin American country. Last year, we signed a free trade agreement with China, which took effect last March. The challenge now is translating the agreement into practical trade.

Our main exports to China are fishmeal and minerals, and more recently, fibres. Awareness of Peruvian products on the mainland is low at the moment. My country is known for Machu Picchu, even in Hong Kong. So I have always said that we have to use that as an engine to promote our exports and investments.

What’s the current state of Peru’s economy?
The IMF’s latest report said that Peru will lead economic growth in Latin America, with 7.7 per cent. Last year, we grew 8.7 per cent. Peru now is an emerging economy in Latin America. We have a big country, with a relatively young population of 29 million people.

The government’s goal is to double Peruvian exports and treble non-traditional exports to support small and medium-sized enterprises. Economic growth has no meaning if it doesn’t turn into human development. So we see economic growth in terms of more employment and better living conditions for the people of Peru.

There have been many things happening in the country recently: Peruvian writer Mario Vargos Llosa was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature 2010, while a new generation of Peruvian chefs has given our traditional cuisine a new twist. I think Peruvians are feeling better now that we are again moving ahead.

What Hong Kong products and services is the Peruvian market interested in?
Our biggest imports from Hong Kong are electronics parts and finished electronics products. Fashion items are another because you have a great sense of fashion here.

For services, we have a lot of infrastructure projects underway right now, improving our ports and roads as the country rebuilds. We have to build for a new country with production growing.

What areas do you see potential collaboration between Hong Kong and Peruvian firms?
Tourism. Hong Kong has 40 million tourists a year. How do you do it? Hong Kong is a safe, vibrant city, where you can buy to your heart’s content.

We have Machu Picchu, which attracts 1.25 million tourists a year. So we can learn from you. Every time we have a visitor to Hong Kong, I take him to the light show, it’s beautiful. You don’t need to have a ruin to offer an attraction. Nowadays, they’re offering gastronomic tours to Peru. So we can be partners in imagining new ways of packaging Peru in a modern, fresh way. We should continue selling Machu Picchu while developing new attractions.