Embajada del Perú en Finlandia - Embajada del Peru - Perun helsingin suurlähetystö - Peru Saatkond Helsinkis

WORKSHOP: “Peru: economic overview, trade and investment opportunities”

PROGRAMME

WORKSHOP: “Peru: economic overview, trade and investment opportunities”
Thursday, 31 January 2008

Main auditorium of the central office of the Nordea Bank Satamaradankatu 5 - Helsinki

9:30 Opening remarks
Mr. Tapani Järvinen, CEO of Outotec OY and President of
the Finnish–Latin American Trade Association
Mme. Ambassador Marjatta Rasi, Under-Secretary of State for

Development Policy of the MFA

9:45 “Peru: Economic Opportunities”
Ambassador Gonzalo Gutiérrez
Vice Minister Secretary General of the MFA of Peru

10:20 “Mining Prospects in Peru”
Mr. Roque Benavides
CEO of Buenaventura Mining Company, Peru

10:40 “Perspectives for Finnish presence in Peru”
Mr. Pekka Orpana
Ambassador of Finland to Peru

11:00 “Outotec in Peru”
Mr. Tapani Järvinen
CEO of Outotec OY, Finland

11:15 “Finnpartnership – supporting new business partnerships
between Finnish and Peruvian companies”
Mme. Hanna-Riitta Kurittu
Programme Coordinator, Finnpartnership

11:35 “Development financing for projects in Peru”
Mme. Helena Arlander
Investment Director of Finnfund

11:55 “Financing trade and projects in Peru”
Mme. Elisabeth Henrikson
Senior Relationship Manager, Emerging Markets, Region Latin
America,Nordea Bank

12:05 Q & A Session.

12:30 Final Comments

Ambassador Gonzalo Gutiérrez - Vice Minister Secretary General of the MFA of Peru

Remarks by H.E. Ambassador Gonzalo Gutierrez Reinel,
Foreign Affairs Vice Minister of Peru, at the Opening Ceremony
of the Exhibit
“Peruvian Silver – 2000 Years of Art”

It is a great honor for me to attend the opening ceremony of this superb exhibit entitled “Peruvian Silver – 2000 Years of Art” which displays some of the finest examples of Peruvian past and present silversmithing.

It is important to highlight that the “Peruvian Silver – 2000 Years of Art” comprises a collection of art objects especially arranged for exhibition in Finland.

Despite the geographic distance, cultural exchanges between Peru and Finland have been frequent, maybe because the two nations share the common belief that it is important to preserve human heritage and make it available to everybody.

In Peru, ten thousand years of human evolution are present not only through its people and its creativity but also through numerous historical and archaeological places. Peru inevitably evokes images of Machu Picchu, the Incas and even more ancient cultures as Moche, Chachapoyas or Chavin which bestowed upon us a legacy of customs, rituals, arts, skills and wisdom. Cultural diversity and integration is indeed one of the main features of modern Peru.

As you may know, Peru has become one of the rising nations in Latin America thanks to (among other factors) the stability of its policies, its modern legal framework, the sustained growth of its economy, its vibrant democracy, its strategic location, and the diversity of its natural resources, 2008 will provide Peru with the unique opportunity and challenge of hosting two events of global impact: The V LAC-EU Summit, as well as the XVI APEC Leaders Summit. We are steadily working to show the world the variety of business opportunities available in our country.

With the “Peruvian Silver – 2000 years of Art” exhibition we would like to express our gratitude to the people and Government of Finland working with us to preserve our heritage through several generous cooperation initiatives. We also want to convey our people´s invitation to come to Peru and enjoy our festivities, traditions, gastronomy, landscapes, as well as nature.

This exposition has been possible thanks to a joint effort by the Finnish National Gallery, Sinebrychoff Museum of Art and Patronato Plata del Perú, with the collaboration of Finnish cultural authorities, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Peru and the Embassy of Peru in Helsinki.

Finally I would like to congratulate the Director, the distinguish curator and the staff of the prestigious Sinebrychoff Museum of Art for arranging the magnificent display of almost 200 silver objects that compose this exhibit. Nothing has been left at change.

It is my sincere hope that this exhibition will bring Peruvian and Finnish people even closer together. I declare open the exhibit “Peruvian Silver – 2000 Years of Art”. Thank you very much.

The 18th of October a special ceremony was organized at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, coinciding with the World Food Day, to announce the year 2008 as “The International Year of the Potato”.

In the event took part the United Nation´s Secretary-General , Ban Ki-Moon, the Director General of FAO, Jacques Diouf; the President of the General Assembly, Srgjan Kerim; the Vice President of ECOSOC, Léo Meróres; The Peruvian Minister of Agriculture, Ismael Benavides; and the Chairman of
the International Potato Center (CIP), James Godfrey.

The same day, at the same Headquarters of the United Nations, was carried out an academic event organized by FAO, in which participated as the representative of Peru, engineer Mario Tapia, a recognized specialist in potato, in addition to the representatives of the CIP, FAO, specialized
NGOs and delegates of the Permanent Missions of Spain, Italy and Ireland.

Many years ago Peru began to emphasize the importance of the potato within the framework of world food security, underlining that the potato is an original plant of the Andes of South America, domesticated by a millennial civilization that cultivated and utilized it in various ways.

Traditional potato varieties at diversity fair at Aymara, in Huancavelica, Peru. (CIP)

Due to the International Year of the Potato events, expositions, conferences, seminars and publications on the history of the potato will be organized in several cities. In addition to this gastronomic festivals are being planned to realize in different capitals of the world.

The potato, which scientific name is “Solanum Tuberosum”, has the most elevated content of protein of all the existing roots and tuberous roots; and, today it´s one of the four principal cultivated plants of the world after wheat, corn and rice.

It´s good to note that after it´s arrival in other countries it became a significant daily nutrition for the majority of the population.The potato is a nutritional component of the Finnish diet. It arrived in
Finland in 1720 and today, according to the specialized reports, a Finnish citizen consumes an average of 63 kilos of potato per year, specially the so-called “new potato”. Finland is the eighth European country in quantity on consumption of the potato per capita.

The International Year of the Potato may become a motive for a significant celebration as it is an agricultural product that is of interest of the population, because of it´s wide acceptance and the diversity in the preparation according to Finnish regional culinary traditions.

In Finland, depending on the season, there can be found up to 50 types of potatoes on the market. In Peru, thanks to the investigation performed by scientists and experts working at the CIP (Centro Internacional de la Papa), with it´s headquarters in Lima, it has been confirmed that there are over
4000 species that originate from the South American country mentioned.Complete information can be found on the web page of the CIP: www.cipotato.org ; or FAO: www.potato2008.org.

On Thursday 22 November, the President of Peru, Alan García Pérez, officially launched the International Year of the Potato in the country, highlighting the contribution that the potato makes to the world.

Ministers of State, representatives of the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization and the International Potato Center (CIP), diplomats and delegations of High Andean producers of potato attended the ceremony. The Peruvian leader emphasized the nutritional qualities of the potato and promised greater public education on the benefits of this great food.

García Pérez noted the low annual consumption of potato in Peru is 88 kg per person per year, much lower than countries such as France and Belgium. He suggested a consumption target of up to 100 annual kg per year.

The ceremony included the viewing of part of an exhibition entitled “The Progress of the Potato” which CIP is preparing in collaboration with government ministries. The exhibition looks at the domestication of the potato, its importance in pre-Columbian cultures, its discovery and transport to Europe, its wider dissemination and the legacy of the original breeders. From February 2008 the exhibition will be shown in eleven countries around Europe and Scandinavia.

Dr Charles Crissman, Deputy Director-General of Research, who represented CIP in the ceremony, pointed out later that the proclamation of 2008 as International Year of the Potato by the United Nations allowed the revaluation of the importance of this Andean product in the generation of incomes, poverty alleviation and food security worldwide.

“We are very happy to share this moment with everybody present here, and particularly with the farmers, who represent the hundreds of thousands of people who cultivate potato in Peru,” he said. “They continue the tradition of cultivating the incredible diversity of the potato, in order to preserve it, and sharing their valuable knowledge on this crop.”

“During this year and in the next, CIP will work with the Government of Peru, FAO and other organizations to emphasize not only the value of this crop, but also the importance of the guardians of its biodiversity in the Andean mountains. CIP is committed to using this year to promote this crop as a way of economic growth through the national and international markets”, he added.