The free-trade agreement between Hong Kong and Peru will put the SAR in the global spotlight and fast-track regional trade, according to the city’s delegate to a key working group of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, or Apec. Peruvian exporters and shippers also welcomed the pact and expressed interest in expanding their businesses in Hong Kong, citing the city’s strategic location in Asia and connections with the mainland. Marjorie Yang, a Hong Kong, China, representative on the Apec Advisory Council, said one of the biggest features of a free-trade agreement is lowering, or abolishing, tariffs. But that wasn’t the case here. “Right now, this trade agreement eliminates tariffs on the Peruvian side, but Hong Kong doesn't have any tariffs to eliminate. So Peruvian business have always been welcome to come and do business in Hong Kong,” she said. Yang, who's also the head of Esquel Group, one of the world's biggest textile and apparel manufacturers, explained what the Hong Kong-Peruvian FTA is really about. “Bilateral agreements are always good because if you can't get (something) like CPTPP (Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership) going, you can get bilateral agreements and gradually push.” “So this agreement … the terms are such that if there are better terms reached in other bilaterals, we would also benefit.” Edgar Vasquez, a former minister of foreign trade and tourism in Peru, stressed that free trade deals have many facets. “The main focus of the free trade agreement is to have the possibility to cooperate with each other in many other aspects with regards to goods, because we have sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade, intellectual property,” he said. Now representing the Peruvian Association of Exporters, Vasquez believes the agreement boosts exposure of Hong Kong in Peru and vice versa. “I’m sure that with the free trade agreement, as with our experience with the United States, our exports exploded. With China also, our exports increased a lot. We signed with Thailand, with Australia, our exports are growing.” For Liverita, a Peruvian freight forwarder and consultancy firm, Hong Kong was already on its radar years ago. It set up an office in the SAR in 2020 and followed up with another outlet in Shanghai later that year. General manager Carolina Hurtado said she was extremely grateful for the assistance from InvestHK, the SAR government arm tasked to lure direct foreign Investment. “[That’s] because you really don't have an idea of how many ports or how many locals or chamber of commerce I have visited and asked for information. I mean, what do I need? What info, what documents, what is the process, how much I need to invest?” she said. “We are pretty (good) friends right now with them (InvestHK).” Hurtado added that Hong Kong’s advanced infrastructure and robust financial sector makes it an ideal destination for investors. “I know that the financial companies in Hong Kong are pretty big, more than 100 banks, right? In Peru we don't have more than 20. They don't have a lot of bank investors or bank information for international products.” “But I know Hong Kong (has) got that.”
