Peru

While Peru remains a mainstay in products such as asparagus and fishmeal, areas like coffee and organic produce are where new growth is likely to come from. Agricultural exports increased by more than $800m to reach $4.8bn in 2011, with the US being the top destination. Peruvian coffee in particular is gaining an international reputation for quality, especially in new markets, and organics are a...

With expansion of 3.34% in 2011, the construction sector looks primed for further growth, due in part to a need for new housing evidenced by the country’s housing deficit of some 2m units. The government has publicly announced a goal to build 500,000 housing units by 2016, and there are a number of opportunities for public-private partnerships in the sector. While the real estate market has...

With more than 2400 km of Pacific coastline, Peru is well placed to take advantage of increasing levels of trade in the Asia-Pacific region. As China has overtaken the US as the country’s biggest trading partner, Peru has turned its attention to improving transport and logistics to facilitate the flow of Asia-bound exports. For example, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications in late...

A number of new free trade agreements – including with the US, Canada and Singapore – and a shift of focus toward value-added production have boosted the industrial sector. The government is now concentrating on growing the export activity of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which make up more than 99% of Peruvian companies. The textile business continues to thrive, with large...

While global insurance markets have been showing lower levels of growth in recent years, Peru’s insurance sector has expanded apace, averaging 15% annual growth in premiums over the past five years. There are 14 insurance companies providing a variety of plans and services. Life in particular has performed particularly well by global standards: while life insurance sales dropped by 4.3% globally...

Strong economic growth in recent years has enabled Peru’s capital markets to remain relatively unscathed by the global economic crisis that devastated many exchanges around the globe. While the Lima Stock Exchange (Bolsa de Valores de Lima, BVL), with market capitalisation of around $135bn, is one of the region’s smaller exchanges, it is likely to attract interest based on its recent successes....