"We believe that this accession process will be crucial to improving the governance and complexity of the country," said the High Representative for Peru's Accession Process to the OECD, Ana Rosa Valdivieso.
Peru has begun the process of joining the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) with great prospects.
The Andean country's ties with the OECD began in 1998 with an initial approach to the Investment Committee, which it joined in 2008. Four years later, the country formally submitted its application to join the organization and a permanent State policy was articulated that has had the support of successive governments.
“We believe that this accession process will be crucial to improving the governance and complexity of the country. It is a process that involves different actors; while it is true that there are nearly 400 public officials working on the various reforms, it is a process in which the business sector and other branches of the State are key to making progress,” said the High Representative for Peru's Accession Process to the OECD, Ana Rosa Valdivieso.
But how complicated is it to be part of this bloc? In 2022, Peru received a formal invitation to join the OECD.
"We received a roadmap based on recommendations and the participation of 24 committees that help us in governance, structural reform and sustained growth inclusive of open trade, infrastructure, transportation and basic services, inclusive growth with equal opportunities, digitalization and the environment and biodiversity," detailed the newspaper El Peruano .
The official said that Peru is constantly evaluating almost all state administrations. “We have already received recommendations from five committees: budget; international commissions; regulatory policies; environmental policies and public governance,” Valdivieso said.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Among the recommendations made by the evaluation committees, in the case of regulatory policies, the strengthening of actions aimed at eliminating bureaucratic barriers stands out. “In this regard, we must establish effective and equitable regulatory frameworks,” he said.
Similarly, the OECD recommended strengthening regulatory impact analyses, which should be standardized, since administrative procedures must be more flexible and transparent.
The public governance committee made recommendations ranging from legal security, which highlights the establishment of a fully independent and effective justice system, to strengthening the fight against corruption throughout state management.
Infrastructure is one of the most important issues in public governance, as Peru registers a 50% gap in gross domestic product (GDP).
“At this point, the OECD says that Peru must achieve more transparent public-private partnerships (PPPs), with clear rules of the game so that business can participate effectively in infrastructure processes, as well as improve tenders,” he explained.
STATE POLICY
The High Representative for Peru's Accession Process to the OECD commented that this process has been declared of national interest.
“It is a State policy. It is not a process exclusive to the Executive, other powers, such as Congress, participate in it, but the participation of companies, a key sector in many of the reforms linked to the fight against informality, to increasing competitiveness and to increasing productivity, will also be very important,” said Valdivieso.
In this regard, he commented that the OECD is convinced that increasing productivity is the only resource that many of its member countries have had to fight against populism and counterattacks on democracy.
“It is a strategic opportunity. There is an initiative for the State to establish an advisory committee led by businessmen, academia and young people to implement these recommendations,” he said.
NOTABLE STAGE
According to the OECD, Peru has experienced a period of remarkable economic and social progress since practically the beginning of this century.
The country's average economic growth was 5.1% in the period 2000-2015, significantly above the average for Latin America and the Caribbean, which stood at 3.1% in the same period.
This stage of economic growth allowed the country to achieve the status of upper-middle income country in 2008 and favored the expansion of a middle class that today represents around a third of the population. “These advances allowed the Peruvian population to achieve greater levels of well-being and greater access to opportunities,” says the organization.
DATA
- Peru has been a trusted partner for the dissemination of standards and good practices in Latin America and the Caribbean. It was also the first country to co-chair the OECD Regional Programme for Latin America and the Caribbean (LACRP) between 2016 and 2019.
- The OECD represents 60% of global GDP, 80% of international trade and 71% of foreign direct investment (FDI) flows. It is an organization known for having the best public policy standards, i.e. the best practices.
