Living in Peru : your everyday companion

By Luis Davelouis/Christian Navarro
For El Comercio

Felipe Ortiz de Zevallos’ (FOZ) opinions about the future and the situations that could be triggered by the past and actual happenings are probably the most respected in Peru. We discussed with him the international crisis, its impact on Peru and how stable our economic growth model is.

It is said that the international crisis has hit rock bottom and that what is left to do it to climb out of the pit. What do you think?
I think that is right. The worst is over but I also think that the recovery will be slow and fragmented; there will be continuous advances and setbacks that will make for a changing and uncertain atmosphere. There will be much more volatility and it will be a lot harder to make predictions. 

There are 232 foreign nongovernmental organizations carrying out development projects in Peru, according to a survey by the NGO association COEECI.

The NGOs' budgets totaled $US 161.7 million in 2007, the most recent year for information.

Aid to Peru has declined significantly in the past decade, COEECI reports.

Governmental aid has nearly halved since the 1990s and private aid has also decreased -- factors include Peru's improved economy and donor countries' focus on Africa and the Middle East.

By Carolina Benavides
Director of Nexos Voluntarios
For El Comercio

Regarding salaries, sex and ethnicity, Peru is amongst the most discriminatory in the region, according to the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

Mrs. Temple, director of the DBM, pointed out that companies in developed countries consider it fundamental to hire people of different genders, ethnicity and religious beliefs. In this way, not only do they avoid an unbearable social burden, but they also increase productivity.

This is a central subject: the coexistence of what is different is the foundation for development and creativity. It is the daily confrontation with those who do not reflect us like a mirror, that makes us move forward.

On the contrary, uniformity leads to exclusion and the eternal repetition.

In a constant flow of what appears to be near accidents, vehicles in Lima jostle for position, sneak across boulevards and dart in and out of roundabouts. To cross a street on foot, pedestrians often run.

Often named as culprits for the chaos are the buses, vans and drivers that comprise Lima's privately-owned public transportation system. In a 2008 poll, "the problem of pubic transportation" was cited as Lima's second biggest problem. Bus drivers have been called "barbarians" by the established press.   

"We all know there's a problem and we blame the [bus] drivers," sociologist Claudia Bielich told LivingInPeru over the phone. "My idea was to find out why they drive like they do."

TechnoServe has been operating in Peru since 1982 and has successfully executed various types of business projects on a national level. TechnoServe’s team possesses the technical and managerial expertise to support entrepreneurial endeavors that generate employment, increase incomes, and promote economic growth.

The primary strategy of TechnoServe is to identify and capitalize on good business ideas in high-potential markets that help to transform the lives of the rural poor. The organization continually searches for opportunities to strengthen regional growth in both national and international markets.

Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, began his work in a garage. Erasmo Wong started his empire with 50 square meters. According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, Peru has more entrepreneurial spirit than any other country.

All companies begin modestly. It is only when they begin to think big that they become global players.  To do this, the founder often has to overcome what I call the “51% syndrome.”

In many cases, a company’s retained earnings and its capacity to take on debt restrict its ability to finance expansion into new markets.

This is why it is often necessary to open the company to other investors/venture capital funds and/or float the company on the stock market to find the resources needed to grow on a global scale.

She went off to Paris in love where her husband supported her in everything that she did. A decade later, they have returned to Peru. She, at the wheel of her company, is supporting him while he adapts.

She decided to come back for the sake of her children. Gretel Castro had everything in Paris: happily married, she was the right arm of Antoine Fauger, a successful entrepreneur dedicated to the import of fresh fruit and vegetables. He directed A.M.S. European when Gretel decided that her children were missing the family warmth in the midst of which she had grown up. Fauger was not willing to let her go so he proposed that they open A.M.S. Latina here in Peru and he put her in charge of the operation. She will close her second year with over a million dollars in sales.

Family businesses are very prominent around the world. They range from small convenient stores to large conglomerate multinational companies like Walmart, or they are centuries old like Zildjian, which was founded in 1623. Peru is not absent of such a plethora. Most of the corner stores, or rather ‘bodegas’ in our neighborhoods around Lima are family run businesses. However, at the other extreme, the largest bank and largest insurance company in Peru are family owned businesses. In either case, family businesses provide well needed services to all levels of society and for all sectors of the economy. Family-owned businesses are vital for the health of an economy, especially here in Peru.