Living in Peru : your everyday companion

by
Diego de la Torre de la Piedra

President of Global Pact Peru

Fifteen years ago, an English friend of mine defined Peru as “ten seconds a year on the BBC.” Fortunately, this has changed and our country is beginning to play a more significant economic and cultural role on the world scene. Evidence of this can be found in the most prestigious international newspapers and magazines such as Forbes, The Times, and The Economist among others, which write about and analyze Peru as an attractive destination for investment and cultural tourism. What seemed like isolated bright spots, represented by Sofia Mulanovich, Juan Diego Flores, a Peruvian cement plant in the United States and Peruvian gastronomy, have become a systematic phenomenon in diverse areas such as literature, economy, law, technological innovation and cinema.

US$ 129.00 is the equivalent for nearly 85% of a basic salary in Peru, an amount that duplicates the market basket of goods per capita. It is also what an average tourist spends daily while visiting Peru. Hence, tourism in Peru has an enormous capacity for being a currency generator. Even though tourism currently only contributes with 1.7% of Peru’s GDP, it has a great potential of growth, as evident in recent investments announced for the years to come.