An official delegation from Peru headed by the Peruvian ambassador to Spain, Claudio de la Ribeyro Bridge and the newly appointed economic and commercial advisor of the Commercial Office of Peru in Spain, Joan Manuel Barrena, have participated today in a business meeting at the headquarters of CEOE, in which the opportunities for trade and investment in the country have been presented, as well as the possibilities for cooperation in key projects in the region. In turn, the permanent secretary of CEIB and director of International CEOE, Narciso Casado, who inaugurated it together with the ambassador, participated in the day; the director of the ICO Presidency Cabinet, Alfonso Noriega; and the delegate in Madrid of the Peruvian Chamber of Commerce in our country, Juan Millán.
In his intervention, the Permanent Secretary of CEIB, Narciso CasadoHe highlighted the excellent bilateral relations we have with Peru, thanks to its openness to trade and foreign investment. For this reason, "Spain is a natural investment partner for Peru and a priority market for our companies," he said. In this regard, he highlighted the international vocation and permanence of Spanish companies, as well as his experience in many of the sectors in which Peru offers opportunities, such as infrastructure, telecommunications, energy, agribusiness or consulting services, among others . He also emphasized the massive presence of Spanish SMEs in the country, since they represent the majority of the 800 companies established in the area.
Casado stressed that the continuity in macroeconomic policy and structural reforms, aimed at the opening of its economy, the impulse to the development of the private sector, and the attraction of foreign investment, have been decisive factors for Peru to place itself in the group of Latin American countries that have reached the highest annual average GDP growth in the last ten years. Therefore, he continued, “since CEOE we have been doing activities with businessmen and authorities of the country for years, such as the meeting we held in February this year, on the occasion of the visit of the Peruvian president, which was attended by more than 400 businessmen from both countries” .
Agreements
The permanent secretary of CEIB placed special emphasis on the efforts being made by the administrations of both countries to achieve the approval of the agreement to avoid double taxation, in order to further boost bilateral relations; He also advocated to take full advantage of the EU-Peru trade agreement, in force since 2013 and that improves the conditions of access to investments, services and goods of both countries.
Casado highlighted the importance of Peru for Spanish companies, given that the Latin American country is part of the most dynamic integration process in the region, the Pacific Alliance, along with Chile, Mexico and Colombia and of which Spain is an observer country. In addition, he took the opportunity to invite attendees to the Pacific Alliance Seminar, held on October 30 at CEOE, and which will address the main concerns of SMEs from the vision of both member countries and countries observers.
CEIB and SEGIB
This act, he added, is a sample of the effort and intense joint activity carried out by the Council of Ibero-American Businessmen (CEIB), in collaboration with the Ibero-American General Secretariat for materializing the commitments of the business sector and the public sector together in Relevant issues for the economic and social development of Latin America. In addition, he stressed that CEIB acts under the umbrella of the International Organization of Employers (OIE), which is the only organization that brings together more than 140 business organizations from 150 countries in the world.
Bilateral relationship
For his part, the ambassador of Peru in Spain, highlighted the close strategic relationship between both countries, an aspect that is supported by a process of commercial and investment integration that has been going on since the 1990s and that has been gaining breadth and consolidating over the past few years.
In this regard, said the ambassador, Spain has become the first investor in the country, the first European importer of Peruvian products, as well as the first issuer of tourists to the country.
All this, he stressed, thanks to the efforts made by the Peruvian authorities in the matter of adoption of monetary and fiscal policies, budgetary stability, strategy of commercial opening and insertion in global markets, measures that have positioned it as one of the countries with the greatest attractive to intervene in the Latin American region.
This regional strength noted the ambassador, has been reflected in the implementation and entry into force of 27 Free Trade Agreements, thus establishing direct relations with 72 business partners and potential access to more than 3,300 million consumers. Thus, he highlighted the Pacific Alliance as a regional integration platform, which emerged on the Peruvian initiative.
Investment business opportunities
Next, the economic and commercial advisor of the Commercial Office of Peru in Spain, Mr. Joan Manuel Barrena, highlighted the main key sectors for Spanish companies with interests in Peru, mentioning first of all the infrastructure, sector for which the Peruvian Ministry of Economy and Finance has recently approved a National Infrastructure Plan for Competitiveness 2019, in which 52 projects are prioritized with an estimated investment of about 26,696 million euros for the coming years.
Likewise, Mr. Barrena informed Spanish companies with interests in Peru that they can find investment opportunities in the water and sanitation sectors, the agribusiness sector and the information and communication technology sector.
Subsequently, Mr. Alfonso Noriega, Director of the Office of the President of the ICO, intervened, which, as a State financial agency, has among its objectives to manage the funds and instruments of official financing for export and development.
In the case of Peru, Noriega noted, in the 2016-2019 period, the ICO financed through its mediation line 232 operations for an amount of 131 million euros (14.2% of the total of 1,039 million euros that allocated to its international operations) 90% concentrated in the natural resources sector.
Regarding his regional presence, the director of the Presidential Cabinet of the ICO mentioned that the ICO has financing agreements with private and multilateral entities in the region, such as CAF- Development Bank of Latin America, which have allowed him to finance business projects Spanish in the railway, road, energy distribution and renewable energy sector.
The day was closed by the delegate in Madrid of the Chamber of Commerce of Peru in Spain, Mr. Juan Millán, who emphasized the dynamism between Spanish and Peruvian companies and encouraged all participants to invest in the country and continue reinforcing the growing bilateral trade flow.
For more information, you can check the following links for presentations on:
"Trade and investment opportunities in Peru for Spanish companies”Economic and Commercial Advisor of the Commercial Office of Peru in Spain, Mr. Joan Manuel Barrena.
"Instruments to support Spanish companies”Director of the ICO Presidency Cabinet, Mr. Alfonso Noriega.