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29 March 2024

Peru sets up consulate in Dubai

Al Ghurair, Romulo Acurio and Mr Alvaro. (SUPPLIED)

Published
By Staff

South American country Peru has established a trade and investment office in Dubai in order to enhance economic, political and cultural ties with the Gulf countries.

It is the first Peruvian Consulate General and Trade and Investment Office in the region.

Abdul Rahman Saif Al Ghurair, Chairman, Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, received Romulo Acurio, Consul General, and Alvaro Silva-Santisteban, Director, Trade and Investment Office of Peru - UAE at the Chamber premises.

Al Ghurair noted that the permanent presence of a consular and commercial representation of Peru in Dubai will facilitate business and travel between both nations.

Al Ghurair assured the Peruvian Consul General and Trade and Investment Office Director of the Chamber’s commitment to offer all kind of assistance to their mission.

He said that this commitment comes as part of the Chamber’s initiative of reaching out to new markets especially those from the South American countries and called upon the Peruvian companies to participate in next year’s Gulfood 2012 global food exhibition which is an ideal venue to promote Peruvian food products in Dubai and the regional markets.

Al Ghurair also stressed on the importance of Dubai as a major gateway to the region and an ideal platform for the enhancement of commercial and investment opportunities between South America, the GCC and beyond. He emphasised on the close bilateral ties of the Emirate with the markets of Mena, South and Central Asian and East African countries, and Dubai’s easy access to over 2 billion consumers in these areas.

Stressing on the need to strengthen economic cooperation between Dubai and Peru, Al Ghurair pointed out, according to Dubai figures, the non-oil trade between the two sides reached Dh93 million at the end of last year which is an increase of Dh34 million against the trade value of 2009. This is not up to the mark and needs to be increased, he said.

The Chairman of Dubai Chamber and Consul General Acurio agreed on the importance of a joint collaboration in order to generate greater knowledge on the economic opportunities between Peru and South America, on the one hand, and Dubai, the UAE and the GCC, on the other.

Acurio said: “The main objective of our mission is to introduce and promote Peru to the UAE and to a greater extent to the GCC countries, while emphasising the attractiveness of Dubai and the UAE to Peruvian authorities, business community and travellers”.

The Peruvian Consul General called upon Dubai companies to invest in Peru which he said is open to global trade and FDI and continues the sharp economic growth it has had in the past 10 years. He said the country’s GDP growth in 2010 was 8.8 per cent while the anticipated growth for 2011 is seven per cent which makes the country a leader of economic growth in the Latin American region.

The Consul General further stressed that being already host to the largest single investment by the UAE in South American Port of Callao by DP World, further opportunities for logistics projects and greater development of infrastructure in various perspectives, makes it a sector to carefully be considered by investors.

Silva-Santisteban, Director, Trade and Investment Office - UAE, took the opportunity to highlight the important sectors of mutual interest which he said included food security and agriculture, energy, infrastructure, mining and minerals and textiles. He also stressed on joint ventures and direct investment possibilities in exploration, smelting facilities and direct import of minerals as the country ranks amongst the top five world producers of gold, copper, lead, molybdenum, tin, zinc and silver.

“There are many opportunities to increase direct trade between Peru and the UAE. Note as example that 24% of the Peruvian exports of minerals, mostly gold, are destined to Switzerland, while the UAE imports much of its gold precisely from that country,” he said.

The director of the trade and investment office added that Peru is the No 1 producer of asparagus in the world as it also holds the top position for best organic coffee and one of the best organic bananas as well as one of the world’s best agricultural yields in sugar cane, olives, artichokes and grapes. He pointed out that a delegation of top executives from H2 Olmos, a Peruvian Odebrecht subsidiary, visited the UAE recently to promote investments in 38,000 hectares of land project in the north of the country.