Peru is planning to sign yet another free trade agreement in the final months of President Alan Garcia’s administration, state news agency Andina reported.
The trade deal with Mexico is expected to be signed in April and will come into force before August, deputy Foreign Trade minister Carlos Posada said.
“In the best scenario, this FTA will come into force before this government ends,” Posada said. “We hope that they can attend to our requests and with that we will be closing the agreement.”
While both countries work on wrapping up the last minute negotiations, the technical teams have begun the legal revision of the FTA text, Posada said.
“We did it that way with South Korea and Japan because we realized that it is not necessary to wait to close everything in the deal to begin to revise the chapters that have been dealt with,” he said.
Signing free trade deals has been a central part of President Garcia’s government. The most recent trade deals to be negotiated have been with South Korea and Japan, and earlier the administration also closed talks with the US, China, the European Union and Canada.
The FTA with Mexico will most benefit Peru’s agro-industrial, lumber and textile industries.
