Living in Peru : your everyday companion

Living in Peru
Israel Ruiz

Peru's agro-export sector will suffer the effects of the economic world crisis, especially in the second semester of 2009, affirmed the Andean country's Minister of Agriculture, Carlos Leyton, explaining there had been a decrease in exports.

"The entire agro-export sector will suffer some type of decrease in terms of speed when compared to the rate it was progressing," said Leyton.

The minister of agriculture explained El Comercio newspaper that drops during the first semester of 2009 would not be too serious but that things would be "clearer in the second semester".

When asked which agro-exports had been affected the most, Minister Leyton mentioned asparagus, artichoke, peppers and grapes were being hit hardest by the financial crisis and were not being exported in quantities as great as last year.

"We have to wait and see what happens because there are agro-export sectors that will harvest their products in June," explained the minister.

He confirmed that Spain was not purchasing Peruvian products the way it had last year and that China had reduced the quantity of its Peruvian imports. This is affecting the development of Peruvian agro-exports.

Have other topics you'd like to see in our news section? If you or someone you know would like to contribute a news article to Living in Peru, whether it's translated or based on a personal investigation, send it to editor@livinginperu.com.