China was the largest supplier of information technology (IT) products to Peru in 2006, contributing 41.4 percent of the nation's imports, the Lima Chamber of Commerce said on Tuesday.

Peru's IT product imports from China last year was worth 171.2 million U.S. dollars, it said.

IT product imports have registered a major growth in the last few years from 214.5 million dollars a year in 2002 to 415.2 million in 2006.

Last year, the imports from China represents 60 percent of the value generated by the IT industry. The market will grow swiftly to 700 million dollars, the chamber estimated.

The United States, the second largest supplier to Peru, provided 50.3 million dollars of IT products, or 12.1 percent of Peru's total imports. More than half of Peru's IT imports comes from Asian countries, the statement said.

The chamber said that it is important for Peru to fulfill the requirements of the Information Technology Agreement (ITA) set out by the World Trade Organization, which includes tariff reductions for IT products.

To meet ITA rules, a nation must reduce tariffs, taxes and custom charge to zero for a list of approved products.

"Peru has not yet signed the agreement but it will do so as part of its commitments signed in its free trade agreement with the United States," the Chamber said.

The main IT products imported to Peru include word processor parts and accessories, which represented 102.7 million dollars of goods in 2006, up 53.6 percent from a year earlier. Laptop purchases rose 67 percent to 47.9 million dollars, while silicon chips rose 71.7 percent to 20.9 million dollars.

Source: Xinhua