LIMA, PE.- The International Air Transport Association (IATA) estimated that cargo transport will have a global growth of 2.6% this year, while for Latin America it will be 2.2% , although the increase will depend on infrastructure, efficient regulatory frameworks and a lower tax burden.

“Latin America remains an extremely expensive region for exporting and importing. We need to be competitive, reduce or eliminate taxes and VAT (Value Added Tax) in several countries, as this puts us at a disadvantage compared to other regions,” explained Peter Cerdá, IATA’s regional vice president for the Americas.

At a press conference, within the framework of the 19th IATA World Cargo Symposium (WCS) , he described the above as a serious problem, although in certain countries such as Colombia, Brazil and Mexico there has been progress.

“But we need better definitions of regulations, elimination of taxes that keep getting too high, and infrastructure improvements,” he reiterated.

Cerdá emphasized that e-commerce and the agricultural sector have shown aggressive growth , the latter mainly during peak seasons on the Chile-China route, as well as the export of flowers from Colombia or Ecuador to Europe or the United States.

He considered the market to be more competitive. “We were more limited in the past, in that connectivity that depended on other transit destinations to move cargo; that is changing, and I think Brazil is a great power, but again, it has regulations that make air transport not competitive globally,” he emphasized.

“We are growing, not at the same rate, but there is more connectivity and more products being exported. With e-commerce growing alongside the middle class, we will see more growth in the future, which until now has been limited,” he explained.

At the event, he recalled that Peru built the new Jorge Chávez Airport without a master plan for cargo handling infrastructure. “We are using outdated services at an airport that is extremely important for cargo,” he stated.

Peter Cerdá indicated that while improving passenger infrastructure is critical in the region, improvements for cargo are also important .

He explained that digitalization is another area where the region still needs to improve. “Technology is something we struggle to develop and implement, and that’s another area where we have work to do, not only as a sector or government, but as an ecosystem to improve that area.”

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