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(LIP-jl) -- The United States Trade Representative's Office (USTR) and representatives from Peru's Foreign Trade Ministry will begin talks today which aim to develop amendments that will help obtain a universal ratification of the US-Peru Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in both US and Peruvian Congresses.

According to information divulged by Mercedes Araoz, Peru's Foreign Trade Minister, David Lemor -the ministry's official representative in Washington, and the Peruvian Ambassador to the United States, Felipe Ortiz de Zevallos, will join USTR members to develop amendments to the original FTA which was previously approved by Peru's parliamentary body.

Araoz indicated that she has sent a team of legal specialists belonging to the ministry to evaluate and translate the USTR developed texts.

Once the amendments have been drawn up, member's from the Peruvian Congress will have the first opportunity to ratify the readjusted agreement, something which she added: "is sure to happen."

"Both governments must sign and endorse the amendments before they are submitted to a vote before the parliaments from both countries. Peru's legislative body will be the first to vote for the modified FTA while it is expected the US Congress will vote for it before its August recess," said the minister.

No dates have been given as to when Peru's parliamentary body will vote on the amendments, but ministry representative Lemor suggested they should be approved before next month's Peruvian Independence Day holiday, July 28.

(LIP-jl) -- For the second time during her tenure as the United States Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice has canceled an official visit to Peru. As was the case the first time, she canceled her trip to what Peru's Chancellor's Office explained as a 'busy schedule.'

"The Secretary of State called off her trip to Lima due to a busy schedule. However, I plan to meet with her in Panama next Monday," Peru's Chancellor Jose Antonio Garcia Belaunde was quoted as saying to AFP news agency.

The chancellor indicated that the US diplomat expressed her 'profound apologies' over the cancellation of the June 8 meeting. This is the second time Rice has canceled an official visit to Peru due to a jam-packed schedule,

According to Peru's RPP Radio, the last time she canceled a trip to Peru was in March of 2006, during former Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo's term.

Garcia Belaunde stated that he will hold conversations with Rice during the upcoming Organization of American States meeting in Panama. Among the topics the two diplomats are scheduled to discuss are the pending free trade agreement as well as the status of Peru's efforts on the war on drugs.

(LIP-jl) -- United States President George W. Bush said on Thursday that the proposed free trade agreement (FTA) with Peru is one the tasks he needs to complete before his term ends at the end of 2008.

Speaking at a press conference held at the White House Rose Garden, he indicated that he has a deep desire for the trade treaties with Peru, Panama, and Colombia to be completed by the U.S. Congress and his administration.

Additionally, he expressed his desire to also complete the proposed FTA with the Asian-Pacific nation of South Korea as well.

"We need to further the work we've done on the Korean free trade agreement," commented Bush.

U.S. Democrats and Republicans recently came to an agreement on labor and environmental issues lacking in the Latin American FTAs.

Peruvian foreign trade authorities have expressed their content and optimism in ratifying the US-Peru FTA before September.

If that is the case, the U.S. Congress will have to start motions to extend the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act (ATPDEA) -which gives Peru many commercial trade benefits in exchange for anti-drug stipulations. The ATPDEA pact is scheduled to expire at the end of next month.

(LIP-jl) -- Conversations between Peru and emerging power China are scheduled to be held sometime between August or September of this year. According to Peru's Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism, Mercedes Araoz, once the feasibility studies are completed, both nations will begin their part to work on a fair and effective deal.

Economic specialists from the Andean nation and China got together in Peking last May 14 and 15 to outline the exact responsibilities of the bi-national committee that is conducting the feasibility study for the two nations.

"The parameters we have already agreed on for the feasibility study are solid and will last approximately one month," said Araoz.

The feasibility study is comprised of subjects that will establish the direction of the future negotiations.

According to Araoz, the potential free trade agreement with China will bring 'unimaginable' opportunities to the Peruvian market.

"China's economy is growing at an annual rate of over 10% thanks to its strong industries which have been performing very well," sustained Araoz.

(LIP-jl) -- According to Canada's National Statistics Agency, direct investments in Peru surpassed US$2.6 billion at the end of 2006, making it Canada's fourth most important investment market in the South American/Central American region.

The Canadian agency reports that a total of US$20.084 billion were invested by Canadian companies in 12 South American and Central American countries, representing an increase of 11 percent based on figures registered in 2005.

Brazil received the bulk of Canada's investment dollars in the western hemisphere (aside from the United States). Canadian investments in Brazil reached US$7.455 billion. Brazil is also the largest Latin American investor in Canada.

Meanwhile, Chile took in US$4.6 billion of Canadian investments, mostly in mineral extraction and in Chile's private sector.

Chile's neighbor to the east, Argentina, received US$3.3 billion while Chile's neighbor to the north, Peru, placed fourth on the list.

(LIP-jl) -- United States Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice will visit Peru on June 8 to personally return over 400 stolen archaeological artifacts that have been seized in the United States from private collectors and black market traffickers.

Cecilia Bakula, Director of Peru's National Institute of Culture (Instituto Nacional de Cultura -INC), informed that the US's top diplomat will also renew a Memorandum of Understanding between the US and Peru that currently protects Peru's archaeological treasures.

The agreement, which was originally signed and adopted in 1997, is set to expire in the coming weeks.

Bakula also mentioned that in the coming weeks, the Andean nation will also recover important historical artifacts from various international locations.

The INC claims that a shipment of 553 Peruvian archaeological artifacts from Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Germany, Uruguay, New Zealand, and from the United States will be returned to Peruvian custody after private collectors and black market traffickers took from Peru without authorization.

Bakula stated that Peru is on the verge of reattaining items from its glorious historical past thanks to several lengthy international litigation processes that have taken years to complete.

(LIP-jl) -- Peru's most distinguished economist, Hernando De Soto, was among the key speakers at an event held by the Foundation for International Community Assistance (FINCA International) in New York City.

Jordan's Queen Rania Al-Abdullah and Academy Award-nominated actress Natalie Portman are co-chairs of FINCA International, a non-profit, microfinance organization, founded by John Hatch in 1984. FINCA International is the innovator of the village banking methodology in microcredit and is widely regarded as one of the pioneers of modern day microfinance.

The event featured key note speakers Jeffery Sachs and Peru's own Hernando De Soto, President of Peru's Institute for Liberty and Democracy.

FINCA International is focusing its efforts on bringing Village Banking, a collateral free lending system, to the world's poorest citizens.

It recently grouped 100,000 communal banks that, according to FINCA International, will benefit more than one million families around the world.

(LIP-jl) -- According to Peru's Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism, the preliminary amendments to the Unites States-Peru Free Trade Agreement will be ready sometime next week.

As we reported earlier, the United States Congress reached a bipartisan agreement to green light the U.S.-Peru FTA ratification process. As part of the agreement, U.S. Trade officials and Peru's Ministry of Foreign Trade will negotiate amendments to the treaty, rather than renegotiating the entire agreement -something which Peru strongly opposed since its parliamentary body has already approved the deal.

According to Mercedes Araoz, Peru's Foreign Trade Minister, the United States Trade Representative's Office will have the preliminary amendments ready by next week.

"During our conversation yesterday, United States Trade Representative Susan Schwab indicated that in light of the agreements reached by the U.S. Congress, her agency will begin to prepare the initial amendments which will be sent to us (Peru) sometime next week," said Araoz to state run television station TV Peru.

Once the amendments arrive in Peru, her ministry will then send a negotiation team to the U.S. to collaborate with USTR officials on fine tuning the accords before they are sent to each country's congress.

Although the minister would not comment on the nature of the amendments, it is widely speculated that they will deal with issues concerning labor, intellectual property rights, and the environment.

"We do not know anything else. We only know what was reported in the media. We have an idea of what they (the amendments) may include, but again, we do not have details," said Araoz.

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	FTA: Peru's Foreign Trade Minister confirms U.S. bipartisan agreement (by LIP, 11 May, 2007)
	White House and Congress near deal on FTA with Peru (by LIP, 10 May, 2007)
	U.S. Deputy Secretary of State in Peru (by LIP, 10 May, 2007)
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(LIP-jl) -- After months of speculation and contradictory media reports, Peru's Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism Mercedes Araoz was pleased to confirm that United States Democrats and Republicans have finally come to an agreement that green lights negotiations aimed at ratifying the U.S.-Peru Free Trade Agreement.

During a press conference held at the Peruvian Government Palace in downtown Lima yesterday, Peru's highest trade authority explained that yesterday's bipartisan agreement includes negotiations that will add various amendments to the current treaty.

The amendment negotiations will take place between Peru's Foreign Trade Ministry and the U.S. government, with the amendments being placed to a vote before Peru's Parliamentary body.

In reference to the U.S., she stated the negotiated amendments will be included in the treaty before it is submitted to the U.S. Congress for approval.

Araoz reemphasized the importance of recent visits to the U.S. by key members from Peru's political arena, including Peruvian President Alan Garcia.

"President Garcia's visit with U.S. officials has begun to bear fruit," said Araoz.

- related articles -
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	White House and Congress near deal on FTA with Peru (by LIP, 10 May, 2007)
	U.S. Deputy Secretary of State in Peru (by LIP, 10 May, 2007)
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(LIP-jl) -- United States President George W. Bush's administration is nearing a deal with Congress on labor issues that have stalled the approval of free trade treaties with Peru, as well as with Panama and Colombia, said United States Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez.

"We're close ... We're working extremely hard because we know how important these three agreements are. I'm hopeful that we can get on with this and do it as soon as we can. This makes a lot of sense for our country. It's in our national interest to get these three free trade agreements approved," he said.

Despite feeling confident about the direction of talks between the Bush camp and U.S. Democrats, Gutierrez indicated U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab was still trying to hammer out a regarding labor issues.

U.S. Democrats are holding out to get three stipulations that include an enforceable commitment to abide by laws set forth by the International Labor Organization standards, such as freedom to organize and bargain collectively and regulation of child labor.

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	U.S. Deputy Secretary of State in Peru (by LIP, 10 May, 2007)
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