Twenty years of Peru-Vietnam relations
(VOV) -The Peruvian Chargé d’affaires in Vietnam has highlighted Vietnam and Peru’s huge potential for developing a sound relationship in the future during a recent interview granted to a Voice of Vietnam (VOV) reporter.
Peru is seen as a beautiful country in South America, abundant in mineral resources like zinc, copper, silver, oil.
Regarding geographical location, Peru borders 5 countries (Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, Bolivia and Chile) and is a place where the headquarters of the Andes Community is located. It also serves as a natural center and regional gateway for exports and investment in Vietnam in particular, and Asia in general, to enter the South American market.
Vietnam and Peru are celebrating the 20th anniversary of their good diplomatic ties.The Peruvian embassy in Hanoi has organized a series of cultural exchange events to celebrate the event as well as promote trade between the two countries from April 8-24.
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| Peruvian Chargéd’affires in Vietnam, Luis Tsuboyama introducing traditional food at a culinary art show. |
A VOV reporter interviewed Peruvian Chargéd’affires in Vietnam, Luis Tsuboyama on the sidelines of the event. He said, "Peru is a country of diverse cultures and ethnic groups and Peruvians have a mix of many different bloodlines. In my country we have a famous saying, "If you are not Inga people but also Madinga".
“Inga is a major ethnic group in Peru, but Madinga refers to other bloodlines. The saying represents the diversity of cultures and peoples of Peru ", he noted.
VOV: As you have said above, Peru is a country of cultural diversity.Why did you choose cuisine to launch a chain of cultural exchange events in April?
Mr Tsuboyama : There is a famous saying in Peru that "To reach one man, the first way is to go through the stomach." We also apply this sentence and use culinary factors as the first step to introduce Peruvian culture to you. We will extend the string of promotional activities not only in Hanoi but also in Ho Chi Minh City.
The culinary arts show on April 8 was not aimed to introduce pure Peruvian cuisine but the food material as Lucuma or Quinia.
Our goal is to bring Peru’s typical fruit and vegetables to Vietnam and introduce to your country all the handmade products such as jewelry, cotton cloth.
So, I hope that the cultural promotional activities in April will help promote trade exchange between the two countries. Peru currently exports to Vietnam fish meal and minerals. We want to be able to further expand these activities.
Of course, Vietnam also has the handmade product of its own but we promise to bring you other our products of unique differences.
VOV: It is reported that 2014 is the first year the Embassy of Peru was established in Vietnam. What is the significance of the event?
Mr Tsuboyama: This year marks the round 20-year relationship between Vietnam and Peru and it is also the first year the Peruvian embassy opened in Vietnam.This demonstrates the importance of the relationship between the two nations. Vietnam is a significant destination for Peru in Asia.
The Peruvian embassy in Vietnam is tasked of not only holding diplomatic or political missions, but also promoting Peruvian culture. Therefore, besides the relationship with other agencies, domestic and foreign enterprises, we also want to build a close-knit relationship with the Vietnamese people.
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| Peruvian Chargéd’affires in Vietnam, Luis Tsuboyama and the Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade. |
It seems that the Vietnamese people know very little about Peru other than our famous tourist destination Machu Picchu. But Peru has many more interesting things. The Peruvian embassy established in Vietnam is based on the spirit of promoting the image of Peru deeper into the Vietnamese community.
We want Vietnam to know Peru not only for its tourist attraction Machu Picchu, but also know our country as a developing country, a modern state.
VOV : Looking back on the 20 year-path of the relationship between the two countries, could you please give us some comments on what both nations should do in the future to strengthen the friendship?
Mr Tsuboyama: Looking back at the past 20 years, relations between the two countries have always been good. But this relationship can develop further if there is the presence of embassies in the two countries. The Peruvian embassy opened in Vietnam last year but Vietnam still has no its embassy in Peru.
On trade and investment, the two countries are very keen on this field. The most prominent example in recent years is the presence of the military-run telecom group of Vietnam (Viettel) and PVEP in Peru. In the future, we can deepen bilateral cooperation in trade exchange between the two countries.
The two nations also need to quickly complete the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) to facilitate cooperation.
TPP is a free trade agreement with the aim of integrating the economies of the Asia-Pacific region.
The agreement was originally signed by Brunei, Chile, New Zealand and Singapore on June 3, 2005. Currently, 5 more countries- Australia, Malaysia, Peru, United States and Vietnam- are in negotiation for the agreement membership.
The original objective of the agreement is to cut 90% of import and export taxes and move forward tax cuts of zero to 2015. This is a comprehensive agreement covering all major aspects of a free trade agreement, including goods exchange, rules of origin, intervention, technical barriers, exchange of services, intellectual property issues, the policies of each country.
When returning to our home country, we can share what we gained from the trip to Vietnam with the Peruvian people thus helping them better understand Vietnam as well as the potential opportunities in your country
Maybe in the future, we will hold a show featuring Vietnamese and Peruvian cuisine in Peru.
VOV: Thank you very much.