This growth in trade is spurred by the demand for seafood products by part of the Asian country. "The Asians generally wager highly on the purchase of aphrodisiac seafood products, which Peru has an ample and varied supply of like, for example, shark, razor clams, snails, among other shipments,'' said the director of PromPeru Exports, Juan Carlos Mathews.

 

Although Peruvian exports to Taiwan fell 51.1% in 2009 to US$276 million, the official said that the numbers of the first fourth-month period of 2010 already indicate a more favourable trend.

 

"A growth of 42.2% is observed in the first fourth-month period, which is encouraging because it has the non-traditional sector as its main motor,'' Mathews said.

 

Through April of this year, the traditional sector registered a 34.1% increase, in tallying sales worth US$83 million, mainly due to the demand of seafood products (fishmeal and fish oil) and mining.

 

Meanwhile, the non-traditional sector registered an increase of 114.8%, thanks to the increase of seafood product shipments, and iron and steelworks, Mathews said.