United States President Barack Obama held talks with his Peruvian counterpart Alan Garcia in the White House and praised the South American country’s economic performance and consolidated democracy.
Peru’s Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM) said this week that the country would rank among the world’s top 5 gold producers before 2015 thanks to the production potential and increased investment in the sector.
The Peruvian economy expanded 8.76% in the first quarter of 2010 compared to the same period a year ago, the highest rate in the last 17 months, according to the head of the country’s Statistics Office, Renán Quispe.
Chilean President Sebastian Piñera and Peruvian President Alan Garcia Perez met Sunday in the lead up to the European Union, Latin American, and Caribbean Summit in Madrid. The meeting represented a big step forward in improving the current rocky relations between Chile and Peru.
Chilean Foreign Affairs Minister Alfredo Moreno Charme said he does not see an “arms race” in the continent and suggested following the Argentine–Chilean experience of “homologating military expenditure”.
IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn will travel to Brazil and Peru from May 25-28 to meet with government leaders, leading figures from the private sector, and with students and academics as part of efforts to engage more closely with stakeholders in the region.
Defence officials from Bolivia, Chile, Peru and Argentina will be participating in a high level meeting to coordinate efforts for the elimination of anti-personnel mines which still remain in border fields of the four countries involved.
The Peruvian government’s claim that Chile is undergoing a tremendous arms build-up has once again come to the forefront of Latin American international relations.
The earthquake in Chile earlier this year destroyed Chilean processing plants tightening world supply of fishmeal and causing world market prices to hit an all-time high. Chile is the world’s second biggest exporter of fishmeal, second only to Peru.
Latest forecasts from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) predict Chile and Peru will lead Latin America’s growth in 2011 with an expansion of 6% each. The IMF released its World Economic Outlook Report on Wednesday, upping Chile’s projected growth from 4 to 4.7%.