Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim expressed his hopes of Malaysia contributing to the infrastructure development in Chancay Port, located around 80km north of Peru’s capital, Lima, following a bilateral meeting with Peruvian President Dina Ercilla Boluarte Zegarra at the Government Palace.
The Malaysian government also envisioned the establishment of a halal ecosystem in Peru, positioning the country as a gateway for Malaysian products into Latin America by leveraging Chancay Port’s infrastructure.
According to reports, the US$3.5 billion complex is expected to become a major hub for trade between South America and China as it stands as Peru’s massive new Chinese-funded port.
Between Malaysia and Peru, the total trade from January to July 2024 stood at RM1.16 billion, which is an increase of 36.3% from RM847.7 million over the same period in 2023. Considering this, Anwar said that Malaysia is committed to strengthening bilateral and economic ties with Peru even further.
“My visit to Peru is testament to this. We had discussed at length various aspects of potential cooperation in trade and investment, infrastructure development, halal industry, agriculture, food security and people-to-people ties,” he continued.
Anwar and Dina Ercilia also witnessed the exchange of 3 memoranda of understanding (MOU), with one of them between the Halal Development Corporation (HDC) and the Peruvian Promotion Commission for Export and Tourism (PROMPERU).
The second MOU was on agriculture cooperation between the Malaysian Agriculture Research and Development Institute (MARDI) and the National Institute of Agricultural Innovation (INIA) while the third MOU was between Taylor’s University and the Tourism Training Centre of Peru (CENFOTUR) on cooperation in gastronomy.
“The MOUs reflect the commitment between various levels of stakeholders to strengthen cooperation between Malaysia and Peru. We are confident that once finalised, the MOUs will facilitate greater engagements between both countries,” Anwar said.
