on Thursday stated that Peru is a reliable country for private investment, a scenario favored by the trade integration policy of recent decades.
"Peru is a country that is friendly to private investment, which has been favored by the free trade agreements signed by our country," he said at the opening session of the day at the
40th session of ECLAC, which is being held in Lima.
The government official explained that our country, like its Latin American neighbors, has a small economy, which is why several decades ago it was decided to open up the economy and remove the idea of strategic sectors.
"Tariffs were reduced and the presence of the (Peruvian) State in public companies was reduced to a minimum, because we wanted to make Peru a country friendly to private investment," he noted.
The Cabinet member emphasized that this is why Peru has signed free trade agreements with 22 countries.
"The advantage of these alliances is that they guarantee preferential access and open markets, but at the same time they provide certainty to investors and partner countries, (affirming) that Peru is reliable for private investment," he remarked.
The world is the market
Minister Arista underscored that Peruvian businesspeople understand that the market they should target is the world and not just the country or region.
"If we want to grow, we must seek markets around the world, which is why we have several free trade agreements," he said.
In this regard, the Cabinet member mentioned that competitive agriculture is being promoted. As a result, many Peruvian products are leaders in their destination markets.
"We want to be great competitors in a free market economy. When I say free market, I also mean that we foster free competition, because what bothers and annoys us the most is the presence of monopolies," Arista stated.
"We want to promote free access to the market, because that is the only way for consumers to benefit," he added.
Pending task
However, Minister Arista acknowledged that we are falling short in some areas, such as the large infrastructure gap existing in Peru.
"We need to develop more infrastructure," he underlined.