Moody's highlighted that the success of tenders for the recent Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects has demonstrated the private sector's renewed appetite for certain investments in Peru.
In its report "Infrastructure and Project Financing - Latin America and the Caribbean," Moody's specified that for the first half of 2024, ProInversion had already tendered road infrastructure, port, mining, and transmission projects worth US$5.1 billion.
The credit rating agency noted that the 2024 portfolio includes projects linked to: transmission, railway-road infrastructure, health, and industry that might attract an additional US$3.2 billion in the second half.
This comes after having reached a peak in 2014, when ProInversion boosted projects worth a total of US$11.2 billion in investments. However, the agency awarded only US$1.7 billion between 2015 and 2022.
Strategic Initiatives
In its report, Moody's noted that there are several strategic initiatives underway in Peru that will create significant growth opportunities for the country by enhancing the logistics and transportation sector.
"Peru is carrying out some important road infrastructure projects to enhance regional connections and increase the country's global competitiveness," it underlined.
Moody's said the Peruvian Government's investment agenda includes projects with neighboring Bolivia and Brazil to help them reach Asia-Pacific markets through Peru's ports and reduce maritime transport time through the Panama Canal or the Atlantic Ocean.
The development of transportation infrastructure might also benefit mining companies in Peru, as it would reduce their shipping and security costs, it added.
Chancay Port
Moody's said that China plans to inaugurate the first phase of the Chancay Port, north of Lima, in November 2024, once Cosco Shipping Ports' US$1.3 billion investment is completed.
In this regard, the agency stressed that the port will house post-Panamax vessels (ships too large to sail through the Panama Canal), with the capacity to transport one million containers a year through its 10 docks in its first phase.
"Chancay's objective is to reduce the shipping time between China and Peru by 15 days, without going through the Panama Canal and placing Peru at the center of the Chinese trade route in Latin America," it pointed out.
Moody's also said that Peru, Brazil, and Bolivia in 2023 reaffirmed their willingness to develop a railway corridor aimed at linking the Brazilian port of Santos, on the Atlantic Ocean, with the Pacific coast in Peru, which might allow Brazil to export products to China through Peru.
The Brazilian railway section already operates from Santos to Corumbá, on Bolivia's eastern border. Connecting that line with Peru might require greater investment in a route that crosses Bolivia, it argued.