US Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade Francisco Sánchez last week ended a four-day trade policy trip to Peru and Colombia by reinforcing the critical role exports play in supporting economic growth in the US and abroad. During his trip, he met with outgoing Colombian President Alvaro Uribe to recognize the positive strides the country has made during his administration.
Throughout his trip, Sánchez met with government and private sector officials in Lima, Peru and Bogota, Columbia to promote US commercial relations. Sánchez highlighted the increasing integration of Western Hemisphere economies in keynote remarks to the Association of American Chambers of Commerce in Latin America Conference (AACCLA), in Lima, on June 21.
At events in both Lima and Bogota, Sánchez met with American businesses and explained how increasing trade with Peru and Colombia will help achieve the goals of President Obama's National Export Initiative (NEI), which aims to double US exports during the next five years. Peru currently has one of the fastest-growing economies in Latin America. US exports to Peru totaled US$5 billion in 2009. US exports to Colombia in 2009 totaled US$9.5 billion. Outside of our NAFTA partners, Colombia was the second largest market for US exports in the Western Hemisphere, behind Brazil.