Peru: APEC Summit an Opportunity for the Country · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

On November 22-23, the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum will take place in Lima, Peru. The leaders of 21 countries or “member economies” will arrive to Peru accompanied by a team, often impressive in size.  For example, the Chinese delegation includes more than 120 persons. There is a general consensus that this meeting is very important for Peru. In addition to demonstrating that the country is a worthwhile tourist destination, there are many commercial, investment [es] , and business agreements to be reached. In the preparation for the forum, there have been a series of preparatory meetings at various levels involving businesspeople and working groups involving ministers.
Obviously not everything is so optimistic, as many people are anticipating long delays due to security precautions [es] that are being taken. Some areas of Lima will be closed to vehicle transit, which will cause more chaos in an already congested city that is undergoing maintenance and improvement projects on its primary roads. The government has declared a non-working holiday [es] for the duration of the forum, and there have been threats of street protests by the General Workers Union [es].
Even with the importance of the issue, there have not been many bloggers writing about the subject.  Rather they have been writing about the corruption case involving the petroleum contracts and the firing of journalists critical of the government.  Some have been writing such as Blog de Veperu [es] who writes:
¿Se podria decir que la APEC es beneficiosa para el Peru? Pues si que lo es, y no porque vengan con las chequeras listas para firmar, sino porque es mas facil hacerles conocer los posibles focos de inversion a los cuales pueden acceder (me refiero a los grandes empresarios) a todos juntos, en lugar de buscar posibles inversionistas uno por uno. Tambien sera mas facil hacerles conocer los avances logrados por nuestra economia en los ultimos años y, al mismo tiempo, presentarles los trabajos en infraestructura que se estan realizando a lo largo del pais.
Can it be said that the APEC is beneficial for Peru? Of course it is, and not because they are arriving with their checkbooks ready to sign, but because it is easier to show them possible areas of investment, of which they can access (I refer to the large businessmen) them all at the same time, instead of searching for possible investors one by one.  It will also be easier to show them the progress made by our economy in recent years, and at the same, show them the infrastructure projects that are being implemented across the country.
Blog de Franco [es] reveiws the information in the media and comes to the following conclusions:
Y todo esto es muy bonito. Hace mucho tiempo no pronunciaba cifras como 383 mil millones de dólares o 678 mil millones de dólares. La que fuera cifra de la deuda externa del Perú y hasta el rescate financiero gringo quedan chicomas :D
¿Los inversionistas encontrarán cifras a las que están acostumbrados? Considero que muchos inversionistas vendran con mucho entusiasmo. El Perú avanza, crece. ¿Qué seríamos si esta suerte hubiera ocurrido en un contexto de buena educación, buena gestión pública y privada, lucha real contra la corrupción?
All this is wonderful. It has been a long time since they have cited figures like 383 billion dollars or 678 billion dollars, which had been the figure of Peru's external debt and even smaller than the American financial rescue package :D
The investors will find figures which they are used to? I think that many investors will arrive with a lot of enthusiasm.  Peru progresses and grows. Where would we be if this luck would have taken place in the context of good education, proper public and private administration, a real fight against corruption?
PeruSabores [es] tells us that the Peruvian potato will be present at the APEC Summit:
La papa, producto oriundo del Perú y principal cultivo de los pequeños agricultores de la Sierra del país, estará presente en la Cumbre de Líderes del Foro de Cooperación Económica Asia-Pacífico (APEC Perú 2008), … el Ministerio de Agricultura presentará un módulo donde promoverá el mayor consumo de este cultivo milenario y en el que ofrecerá a los asistentes a la cumbre información sobre sus cualidades nutritivas. Asimismo, en dicho stand se expondrán 60 variedades de las 2,800 papas ancestrales que se cultivan en 19 departamentos del Perú, en sus diferentes formas, texturas y colores, y se ofrecerán degustaciones de papas nativas en forma de hojuelas o chips de colores.
The potato, a product that originated from Peru and primary crop of the small farmers from the country's hillsides, will be present at APEC Peru 2008, … the Agricultural Ministry will present a stand which will promote the increased consumption of this crop and they will present the summit attendees with information about their nutritional qualities. At the stand, there will be 60 varieties of the 2,800 ancestral potatoes that are harvested in 19 departments in Peru, in its distinct shapes, texures, colors and they will offer samples of native potatoes in the form of slices or colored chips.
Finally, Arturo Gómez Alarcón, who in addition to posting relevant information about APEC in his blog Fichas de Resumen de Historia [es] and posts a video:
El Perú estará en los ojos del mundo por tres días y ya se tiene casi todo listo para que los líderes, empresarios y periodistas visitantes aprecien el potencial económico y turístico del País de los Incas.
The eyes of the world will be on Peru for the three days and everything is almost ready for the leaders, businesspeople, and journalists to visit and admire the economic and touristic potential of the Country of the Incas.
While the leaders are in route to Lima for the APEC Summit, here are a few more resources about APEC 2008:
The official APEC blog which collects articles from news agencies
The RPP Noticias online special edition about APEC 2008
The Wiki from the newspaper El Comercio
The pdf special supplement from the newspaper La República
The special edition of APEC 2008 from Peru.com