Peru: Ollanta Humala travels to Spain to strengthen economic relations
The president of Peru traveled to Spain in his first state visit to strengthen economic and cooperation relations. Ollanta Humala gave a message that the investment opportunities in a country that maintains the leadership of growth in Latin America “are intact.”
Humala’s visit had a marked economic nature to promote investment by small and medium-sized Spanish companies in Peru and talent mobility between Peru and Spain, as reported by the Peruvian Foreign Ministry. The president and his wife were received by the kings of Spain, the Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, and also by the presidents of the Senate and the Congress of Spain.
Investments
Both countries are “two economies complement each other and within the European Union, Spain has become one of the strategic partners in Peru,” Humala said in a breakfast meeting with businessmen of the PRISA Group in the Casino de Madrid.
The visit will also serve to diversify bilateral cooperation, to strengthen areas such as “public security and combating crime, combating drug trafficking, cultural exchanges and education, climate change, as science and technology, “according to the Foreign Ministry of Peru.
Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism, Magali Silva said that during his stay in Spain with interest Humala received four draft Spanish companies in the agro-export sectors, gastronomy, health and high technology.
The first aims to develop a system to avoid quarantine of agricultural export products such as mangoes, custard apples and pomegranates, and many other fruits, and reduce the time of a transfer to the Spanish markets.
The second proposal is the Basque Culinary Center to develop a comprehensive food product innovation to identify the potential of tourism and Peruvian cuisine of those less developed regions in those fields.
Silva also said that the Peruvian government reached an agreement with El Corte Inglés for its shops offer in the coming weeks a proposal based menu quinoa, Andean cereal whose exports of Peru to Spain increased “1,000% over the last year, “the minister said.
Expand cooperation on the EU and the Pacific Alliance
The governments of Spain and Peru confirmed the momentum of their relationships and the level of cooperation and expressed their desire to extend it to the blocks belonging to the European Union (EU) and the Pacific Alliance.
“The EU is one of the main destinations for Peruvian exports thanks in large part to the participation of Spanish capital,” Humala, who stressed the huge Spanish investment effort in the past two decades in telephony, energy and finance said. “And there is room to grow and strengthen ourselves with SMEs in sectors such as infrastructure and unexplored subjects in the Spanish capital as mines and trade,” he said, indicating that his country has “macro stability, low inflation, a lower level of debt to 18%.”
Spain is the largest direct investor in Peru, with a total of over 9,000 million (22.7% of the total) and a large business presence, which has crecido exponentially since 2011 and has now risen to 384 large companies and SMEs are present in almost all sectors of the economy and whose number would rise to 800 when taking into account that trade import / export.
In a meeting with President of the Spanish Government, Rajoy and Humala presided over the signing of several agreements which confirmed the level of relations, which relate to cooperation in the fight against drug trafficking and in favor of cybersecurity and sharing embassies and consulates where the other country lacks them.
In terms of regional blocs, Humala welcomed that Spain will promote the EU’s removal of the requirement of visas to nationals of Peru and Colombia for stays of short duration, which can be finally adopted before the end of this year, according to Rajoy, for whom the process is “irreversible”.
The Spanish government said it is a “strong supporter” of the link between the EU and Peru and recalled that his country is already observer Alliance Pacific, Peru, Colombia, Chile and Mexico agreed in 2011.
As the theme to develop Peru’s interest to have a greater transfer of technology from Spain and young Peruvians can have a better professional training is.
The two countries spoke on this visit to the possibility of moving towards a treaty to avoid double taxation and technicians will now try to open that way.