Peru's trade and tourism minister says the country's third Leaders' Summit will attract an additional 15,000 visitors.
In the framework of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders' Summit, the economic impact that this meeting will have on Peru is evident.
In an interview with the Official Gazette El Peruano , the head of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism (Mincetur), Desilú León, said that the international visibility generated by the summit and the positive perception of Peru as a safe destination for investment will contribute to attracting more foreign investment.
- From your perspective, what would be the impact of the upcoming APEC Leaders Summit on our country?
–It is a great opportunity to boost trade operations with APEC member economies.
For this year, we expect trade between Peru and the other member economies to exceed US$80 billion, which would imply a growth of 5.89%, considering that these operations in 2023 totaled US$75,548 million.
We also consider the impact on tourism that hosting the APEC Leaders Summit for the third time is generating.
So far this year, with the 240 preparatory meetings held, we have already recorded 7,400 visitors who came to our country for APEC-related issues.
We hope that by the end of Leaders Week we will have some 15,000 additional visitors promoted solely by this type of meeting, thereby consolidating Peru as a destination for event tourism.
Some 20,000 journalists are also expected to arrive to cover the meeting of leaders.
– On the topic of trade integration, what agreements will be signed at the next Leaders’ Summit?
We have two specific topics: the signing of the protocol for optimizing the Peru-China Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and the signing of the trade agreement with Hong Kong.
In both cases, it will promote the development of new businesses, encouraging the growth of our exports and improving projections.
–Does this occasion create opportunities to initiate negotiations for new trade alliances?
The meeting of APEC leaders in our country represents not only a great opportunity for the growth of our international trade, but also for inbound tourism. It allows us to create a space to promote the start of negotiations for new free trade agreements with economies such as Thailand.
It should be remembered that of the 21 economies that form part of this bloc, we already have trade agreements with 14.
–In this year marked, basically, by APEC, how will inbound tourism fare?
By September, we have recorded the arrival of 2.5 million international tourists. We expect to close this year with the arrival of 3.5 million foreign visitors.
Although we are not yet back to pre-pandemic figures, this goal will be achieved in 2025 as a result of all the promotion and dissemination work being carried out around the world. However, at the currency level we see a rapid recovery.
Our country is well regarded internationally as a place to visit or invest, and that is something we must ensure. The idea is that our country continues to be seen as a safe destination for investment, with legal stability and economic growth.
Everything points to the fact that the flow of tourists, which is the reason why they come to our country, will increase steadily.
Having a growing economy is also a factor that gives security to international tourists interested in visiting the country.
