The last event on the Orchestra Brasil Project’s calendar in 2017 to encourage exports, organized by the Furniture Industry Association of Bento Gonçalves (Sindmóveis) and the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil) is a Buyer’s Project held between Brazil and Peru. The business meetings between Brazilian companies supplying the furniture industry and three Peruvian businessmen from the furniture sector are taking place in Serra Gaúcha aiming to boost business between the two countries

A prominent country in Latin America, showing strong and stable development in recent years, Peru also has one of the best growth forecast in the region for the next few years. According to the IMF, the GDP growth in the country will be 2.7% in 2017 and an average of 3.9% per year between 2018 and 2022, rates higher than the average in Latin America and the Caribbean and almost twice the estimated for the Brazilian growth in the same period. The growth in construction and, in particular, the development of the Peruvian furniture industry consolidate the country as one of the priority markets for the companies participating in the Orchestra Brasil Project

One of the guest importers, William Fry, positively evaluates the prospect of expanding its range of Brazilian suppliers based on the business meetings, especially in the accessories and machinery segments. The technical manager of Pisopak, one of Peru's largest melamine and furniture manufacturers, has put together a significant investment in machinery to increase the group's furniture production by 20% over the next two years.

Fry says that the furniture segment currently accounts for 24% of Pisopak's revenue and that there is a strong intention to increase this share by closing deals with member suppliers of the Orchestra Brasil Project. According to him, Pisopak’s furniture manufacturing unit has recently been expanded and only uses 40% of its production capacity. "Brazil's furniture industry has a powerful vertical integration that makes it very competitive, even in my country. This is because manufacturers rely on this qualified network of suppliers which can also provide to Peruvian manufacturers, where we have a large manufacturing area, but with very slow development when compared to Brazil’s," he says.

The other Peruvian companies invited to take part in the project were two distributors of furniture supplies - one of them also produces kitchens and closets for real estate agencies. The sector-based Orchestra Brasil Project promotes the inclusion of the supplying companies to furniture industry in the international market. The plan for the 2017/2018 period is to expand the missions associated with trade fairs and investments in commercial intelligence at the service of the participating companies.

In the coming year, the project will target South Africa, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, the United States, India, Mexico and Peru