Peru's new consul general for the Southeast, Jorge Puente, has arrived in Atlanta and is seeking a location for a new consulate in the metro area. Mr. Puente, like Peruvian Vice President David Waisman who visited here last week, is enthusiastic about the ongoing free trade negotiations between the Andean countries and the United States.
Mr. Puente's arrival coincided with a six-day visit by Mr. Waisman, as well as the closing of the 11th round of negotiations for the U.S.-Andean free trade agreement and a gala to celebrate Peru's independence day.
“We are looking in the Perimeter/Dunwoody area to have an office that is accessible for Peruvians in the region,” Mr. Puente told GlobalAtlanta during an Aug. 1 seminar on new business opportunities in Peru held at the law offices of McKenna, Long & Aldridge LLP at SunTrust Plaza downtown.
Mr. Puente said the new consulate is to have a trade division to facilitate business, investment and tourism between his country and the Southeast. His office will assist the 30,000 to 40,000 Peruvians living in Alabama, Georgia, North and South Carolina and Tennessee. Some 11,000 live in Georgia alone.
Mr. Waisman, who spoke during a luncheon at the World Trade Center Atlanta following the business seminar, said he is hopeful the proposed U.S.-Andean free trade agreement will help to increase business opportunities for Georgians and Peruvians.
“It is a mutual necessity,” Mr. Waisman said of the agreement, for which negotiations are expected to conclude in October. He said free trade would open opportunities in the agriculture, mining and textiles sectors.
Peru, along with the other Andean countries of Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela, has enjoyed duty-free access to U.S. markets since 2002 on various products. This provision is part of efforts to reduce dependence on illegal drug trafficking, but it is scheduled to expire at the end of 2006. Mr. Waisman said the special tax exemption resulted in a 35 percent growth for Peru's exports to the U.S. from 2003-04. The free trade agreement would permanently eliminate tariffs for all remaining trade between the U.S. and the Andean countries.
Mr. Waisman emphasized that free trade would help to strengthen democracy in Peru, while helping to reduce poverty and illegal drug production in the country. The free trade pact would also provide protection for intellectual property and the environment, he added.
Mr. Waisman was the guest of honor at a gala celebration held on July 30 at the Grand Hyatt in Buckhead and organized by the Peruvian Association in Atlanta and Hemisphere Inc. He also visited Dixie Industrial Finishing Co. in Tucker, the Savannah Economic Development Authority and Georgia Ports Authority in Savannah and the Georgia Institute of Technology Polymer Textile and Fiber Facility and met with Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue, among other activities while here.
Mr. Puente was previously regional director for the Decentralized Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Iquitos, Peru. He has served as consul general in Houston and in Peru's embassies in Finland, Guatemala, New Zealand and Venezuela.
Contact Mr. Puente at jpuente@rree.gob.pe. Contact Hemisphere Inc. at (404) 962-4834 for more information.