Peruvian exports are expected to grow around 15 percent during the last quarter of 2011, based on the fact that this has been the trend in recent, according to Peru’s Vice Minister of Foreign Trade, Carlos Posada.

Posada said this would allow total exports to surpass $40 billion this year, which, he said, was a fairly conservative and feasible estimate, given that total exports were at $28 billion at the end of July.

He acknowledged that exports had fallen in some sectors, like textiles and agribusiness, by about four to six percent, but that the there was still growth occurring overall.

According to Andina, Posada also said exporters were already redirecting their shipments to other destinations where the financial crisis didn’t have a strong affect on Peruvian goods, similar to what occurred in the crisis in 2008 and 2009.

"Peru is quite internationalized with its trade, not only in the diversification of destinations, but because it has shown serious behavior in recent years; we need to take advantage of the number of markets we have today," he added.

He also said that Peruvian textiles had been redirected to regional markets such as Argentina and Brazil.

Posada mentioned that the Foreign Trade Minister, Jose Luis Silva, traveled to Buenos Aires to lead the business delegation that will participate in the Peru Expo on Thursday and Friday.

"Argentina was a good destination to absorb exports during the crisis of 2008 and 2009," he said.

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