PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) has welcomed a possible free trade agreement (FTA) with Peru, saying Australia’s mining and mining services sectors could benefit from the agreement.

Australian Trade, Tourism and Investment Minister Steven Ciobo this week launched FTA negotiations with his Peruvian counterpart, saying it could open new markets for Australian exporters, and could create more local jobs.

“Peru presents a growing opportunity for Australian exporters that this FTA will help unlock. Over the last decade, Peru has been one of the fastest growing economies in Latin America, and the world, with annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth averaging 5.9%.

“Many of Australia’s exports to Peru are blocked by high tariffs that this FTA will seek to eliminate,” Ciobo said.

“Australia’s services exporters could also benefit from an FTA as Peru is increasingly looking offshore for specialised services. Australian expertise in key growth sectors such as mining, finance, education, health and tourism, are well suited to meet this demand. I will be working to ensure Australian services providers have access to the market on the best possible terms.”

MCA CEO Brendan Pearson said that there were already distinct synergies between the two countries’ mining industries, adding that Australia’s largest exports to Peru included metals products, minerals additives and specialised mining equipment and machinery, including vehicles and technical instruments, while Peru’s top imports to Australia also include minerals and mining equipment and inputs.

“A high-quality free trade agreement has the potential to lift the economic relationship between our two countries to a new level by delivering further market access openings and improved two-way investment flows,” Pearson said.

“Australian mining equipment, technology and services (METS) firms, in particular, would benefit from a free trade agreement that significantly reduces barriers to trade in services.”

With mining and METS accounting for 15% of Australia’s GDP and supporting more than 1.1-million jobs, Pearson said that opening up new export markets for the sector will be good news for Australia’s economy, living standards and job opportunities.

He added that Peru’s role as a member of the Pacific Alliance and as a party to the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership made the country an important strategic partner for Australia in forging closer economic ties and new export and investment opportunities across the Pacific.

Australian companies are already very active in Latin American countries, with 400 Australian-operated exploration and mining operations to be found in Latin America. The total capital raised for Latin American projects by ASX-listed companies over the last five years, reached some A$2.5-billion.