The Municipality of Chatham-Kent has signed a memorandum of understanding with Peruvian officials for a new agriculture agreement.
The agreement was reached in principal last week during Mayor Randy Hope's trip to Peru for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)'s CEO Summit, before it was finalized on Monday.
Hope says the agreement will allow both parties to collaborate over the next five years to open new markets, develop product processing, as well as global distribution for agricultural products.
"What we did is we moved into the South American market. The marketing strategy that we've been trying to do is moving agricultural product, and how we do that, what is the process," says Hope in an interview with BlackburnNews.com. "What this does is open up our first real opportunity in Peru."
Hope says the municipality’s CK RAFTS (Rural, Agricultural Food, and Technology Systems) program attracted attention from Peruvian officials as well.
"We feel very positive that they're as energized as we are about it," he says.
The municipality says discussions took place between CK's mayor and a number of senior Peruvian officials, including those involved in the Association of Exporters (ADEX). ADEX is the Peruvian agency charged with promoting agricultural and food exports.
“We discussed areas worth exploring in food technology and crop diversification,” says Hope in a media release. “Since our growing seasons are the opposite of each other, we discussed using that factor as a beginning point to explore collaboration in terms of sending some products back and forth.”
Hope says he expects a delegation from Peru will visit in the region in the near future, to discuss the next steps of the partnership.
The APEC's CEO Summit consisted of delegates from 21 countries. Hope along with Michael Burton, CK's director of investment attraction and government relations, were there as part of the Canadian delegation headed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and senior members of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.