Paraguay's Minister of Industry and Commerce, Marco Riquelme, announced a strategic shift in commercial relations with Taiwan, aiming to replace the traditional model based on cooperation and donations with a focus on commercial transactions and productive capacity generation. The statement was made during an interview with Paraguayan radio station 1000 AM.
Riquelme highlighted the growing interest of Taiwanese companies in investing in Paraguay, citing as an example the visit of Taiwan Sugar. Originally a state-owned sugar sector company, the group has diversified its operations and now also operates in the food and pork farming sectors. One of the company's main objectives is to evaluate the direct purchase of Paraguayan soybeans to meet domestic demand for animal feed, as Taiwan consumes approximately 900,000 tons of pork annually.
According to the minister, this direct sales approach benefits Paraguayan producers by reducing intermediaries in the marketing chain and improving the value received for raw materials. He stated that the Paraguayan government is actively working with its Taiwanese counterparts to consolidate this paradigm shift.
Riquelme recalled that Paraguay has already established itself as the main exporter of beef to Taiwan and that last year it achieved a reduction to zero in the tariff on pork. Currently, the Asian country imports about 100,000 tons of pork annually, representing a significant opportunity. New slaughterhouses dedicated to production for the Taiwanese market are being enabled in Paraguay.
The government is also negotiating the elimination of the tariff for poultry meat, seeking to further expand export opportunities. The overall strategy, according to the MIC head, is to deepen the industrialization of Paraguayan raw materials, transforming grains into animal protein to take advantage of demand from Asian markets.
Finally, Riquelme assessed that a solid position in the Taiwanese market could serve as a platform for Paraguayan products to gain space in other Asian countries. "Once Paraguay is a reference in Taiwan, it begins to be a reference in other countries in that part of the world," he said.