Strategic partners looking to the future

Cesar Landa Arroyo

The author is the minister of foreign affairs of Peru.

On 28 July 2022, Peru will be commemorating 201th anniversary of its Independence as a republic. This important occasion gives us an important framework to think about what we accomplished as a sovereign nation, and our consolidation in the international system. This could be made possible thanks to a strategic vision of promotion of global values like democracy, human rights, openness to the world, the development of a sustainable economy and protection of the environment.

We could proudly say that the bilateral relation between the Republic of Peru and the Republic of Korea is in its highest level and we could outline that the past May 10th, when we commemorated the 10th Anniversary of our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Association, boosted our bilateral relationship in fields like defense, agriculture, ODA cooperation, trade, and science and technology. In the days to come, we will be subscribing bilateral agreements on air services and cooperation in climate change.

In the year 2021, Peru and Korea accomplished 10 years of the establishment of our Free Trade Agreement that markedly strengthened our economic links. In fact, last year our trade balance was nearly almost $4 billion. Nowadays, Korea is our 5th commercial partner, and third main destination of our exports, including a variety of products, which benefit and allow the development of several productive sectors, including agriculture and fisheries. Our goal today is diversifying even more the supply of Peruvians products with high added value to fulfill the demand of the exigent Korean market. Peru encourages the plain incorporation of Korea to the Pacific Alliance as an Associated State and recognize the important support of Korea in the ongoing process of Peru´s incorporation into the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) as a full member.

Korea takes an outstanding place as a source of investment in Perú, with public and private enterprises participating in more than 40 infrastructure projects in Peru. The most emblematic is the construction of the new Airport of Chinchero, in Cusco, which will become the open gate for one of our main touristic attractions, Machu Picchu, considered as one of the seven modern wonders of the world.

I would like to underscore all the cooperation that has been given from Korea to diverse cooperation projects in several fields like: defense, fight against climate change, preservation of the oceans, education, and so on, contributing with the Peruvian government efforts, and favoring the sustainable development and the state modernization. Peru is one of the main recipients of ODA projects through the Korea International Cooperation Agency (Koica) in the Latin-American region.

On the other hand, I would like to express my special recognition for the solidarity and support from Korea to Peru in the fight against the pandemic, sending medical supplies in the worst moment of the spreading disease. Beside, Korea and Peru have designed diverse cooperation projects to strengthen the capabilities of the medical sector in the far-access areas of the Peruvian jungle.

Finally, the mutual trust and our shared objectives and values have allowed us to solidify our bilateral relationship working closely in several international initiatives and forums to tackle current global challenges — like the Asian Pacific Economic Forum (APEC), which Peru will be chairing in 2024, the Forum for East Asia-Latin America Cooperation (Fealac), and the OECD.

In the context of this pretty tight sum-up of the main components of the bilateral relationship between Peru and Korea, we look forward to commemorating the 60th anniversary next year of the establishment of our diplomatic relationship. On this special occasion, the government and the people of Peru will recognize the importance of our friendship and will commit to continuous enhancement of our interchanges in all fields in hopes for a better of future of development and welfare for all our citizens.