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    • The General Manager of the South African-Peruvian Chamber of Commerce, Ms Itala Piaggio and the Deputy Director of Export Promotion (Americas) at the dti, Ms Nthatisi Maraloge during the matchmaking session in Lima, Peru
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Source: The Department of Trade and Industry, South Africa |

Peruvian Companies enthusiastic about doing Business with South Africa

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

Our main objective is to promote and strengthen bilateral trade relations between South Africa and Peru

PRETORIA, South Africa, September 5, 2018/APO Group/ --

If the unexpectedly high number of businesspeople who arrived for business-to-business meetings with South African companies in Lima is anything to go, then trade and investment between South Africa and Peru is poised to increase significantly in the near future. This view was expressed by the General Manager of the South Africa-Peruvia Chamber of Commerce, Ms Itala Piaggio. She was speaking during the matchmaking session that signified the second day of the Trade and Investment Mission to Peru organised by the Department of Trade and Industry (the dti).

“I am impressed by the high number of businesspeople who came here eagerly wanting to meet with their South African counterparts. The interest in the Peruvian companies to do business with South Africa is overwhelming. 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,” said Piaggio.

As the general manager of the chamber, Piaggio is partly responsible for the impressive turnout of Peruvian businesspeople at the session. Although the dti worked with the Lima Chamber of Commerce where the event was hosted, Piaggio also spread the word amongst members of her chamber, many of whom were already interacting with the South African businesses that are part of the chamber.

“The SA-Peruvia Chamber of Commerce was established in 2015 with assistance from the South African Embassy in Peru. Our main objective is to promote and strengthen bilateral trade relations between South Africa and Peru. We are bringing together South African and Peruvian businesses closer to each other in order to exchange ideas on how we can stimulate bilateral trade and investment between the two countries,” said Piaggio.

She said her chamber was optimistic that the number of South African companies who are doing business in Peru would increase after the trade and investment mission, as companies set up partnerships and joint ventures to operate in the Peruvian economy.

“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. 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. In terms of trade, technological products, amongst others, offer the biggest opportunity for the South African companies as Peruvia imports big volumes of the products and the demand is high,“ says Piaggio.

She reckons more interaction and information-sharing between the South African and Peruvian businesses will add impetus to the increasing trade between the countries which grew from more than R800m in 2016 to about R1.5 billion last year.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of The Department of Trade and Industry, South Africa.