Fiestas Patrias: What are the business reactions after Dina Boluarte’s message?

For approximately five hours, the President of the Republic, Dina Boluarte, recapitulated the achievements of her Government in different areas and outlined the path of the projects to be developed both in this second semester and in the coming years, highlighting the execution of different works, the creation of the Ministry of Infrastructure, the increase in the Minimum Vital Remuneration (RMV), the continuity of Tía María, among other measures. While there are some announcements that outline the promise of an economic recovery, there are also various criticisms and gaps on the part of the business community.

The president of the National Chamber of Commerce, Production, Tourism and Services – PeruCámarasÓscar Zapata highlighted the fact that the president has committed to the construction and maintenance of roads, as well as the rehabilitation of railways and even an airport in different parts of the country. In this regard, Boluarte stressed the importance of these to promote connectivity and strengthen the region through activities that arise from tourism.

“It is unacceptable that Huancavelica, one of the poorest regions in Peru, does not have an airport, which means that our sisters and brothers in the region have to spend long hours travelling by land to get to the capital and other areas of the country. For this reason, in the third quarter of this year, the selection process for the development of an airport in Huancavelica will begin, thereby strengthening our path towards economic, social and tourist development in the region,” the president stressed in her speech.

Zapata thus highlights the importance of such a promise, but at the same time, he emphasizes that these are works that must be completed as soon as possible since they will allow the regions to contribute more to the national economy, in addition to being a driving force for job creation.

The creation of the Ministry of Infrastructure

The president of PeruCámaras recalled that the infrastructure gap for the period 2016-2025 has been calculated at US$159.549 billion by the Universidad del Pacífico, and that closing it implies an annual investment of 8.27% of GDP; that is, around US$15.955 billion annually.

In response, Boluarte maintains that the creation of this new Ministry of Infrastructure will allow planning, coordinating, formulating, executing and supervising infrastructure at a national level in order to serve the population with public services, also having a territorial and social focus, as well as better control of processes, greater transparency and efficiency. This portfolio will operate on the basis of current public programs and entities that execute investments at a national level, for which reason he asked the Legislature to process it “on an urgent basis.”

The Ministry of Infrastructure will absorb entities such as the National Infrastructure Authority – ANIN, the Agency for Investment Studies and Projects and other programs attached to the ministries involved in infrastructure, together with Proinversión, Foncodes, Provías and the Legacy project, among others.

For his part, the president of the Association of Exporters (Adex)Julio Pérez Alván described the message as positive and pointed out that if this new ministry does not generate more bureaucracy or additional expenses and if it has good professionals, it could be the piece that allows for speeding up the works, optimizing the use of resources and helping to close social gaps.

“The president took office at a very complex time. Peru was dominated by mistrust, instability, insecurity, unemployment, poverty and, in addition, it was polarized. It has not been easy, but it is important not only to make commitments, but also to unblock major projects and implement the measures mentioned above,” said Pérez Alván.

The future of SMEs

Roberto De La Tore, president of the Lima Chamber of Commerce (CCL)while applauding the promise of implementing a regional development strategy in which the Government intends to allocate S/500 million, thus allowing the generation of quality jobs in different strategic sectors – and therefore the diversification of our economy – He stressed that President Dina Boluarte did not mention the National Competitiveness and Productivity Plan.

“Long-term reforms that are essential to improving the country’s potential GDP are being postponed, which worries us as businessmen,” he said.

On the other hand, the representative of PeruCámaras stressed that, in the case of SMEs, the attention of the Executive Branch should focus on the needs of those located in the interior of the country, where problems of access to markets, financing and default persist, due to the slow speed of the State in purchasing from this sector and the increase in the cost of credit.

However, regarding the announced investments, the president of the CCL said that although these will boost the economy, it is necessary and essential that there is already a long-term agenda to implement the corresponding actions. Thus, the regional chambers of commerce are committed to being attentive to ensure that the announcements made in terms of citizen security, infrastructure works and support for medium and small businesses are carried out within a reasonable time frame.

Also, regarding the call for National Council for Labor and Employment Promotion With the aim of reaching a consensus on the increase in the RMV that would be effective in the last quarter of this year, the president of Adex is not very enthusiastic about this promise since he highlights that it could affect the development of SMEs.

“The state of the economy must be assessed. In 2023, there was a 0.6% drop and this year it is estimated to grow by around 3.1%. Many companies, particularly small and micro businesses, are in a worrying situation,” he stressed.

Why talk only about a special economic zone?

Although the inauguration of the mega port of Chancay will be “the economic event of the year in Peru”, as Dina Boluarte highlighted in her message to the nation, thus registering a total investment of US$3.5 billion, also positioning itself as the HUB of the South Pacific, De La Tore showed his disagreement on the fact that only the creation of the regulatory framework for the Special Economic Zone (ZEE) of Chancay was mentioned, when The project in Congress refers to a general framework that should reach more regions of Peru.

He also explained that this tool must have a competitive tax incentive to attract investments, which is why the CCL is proposing the application of 0% income tax to allow the establishment of highly competitive companies.

“This will attract investments in industries with full use of our free trade agreements and greater technological infrastructure in various regions of the interior of Peru,” said the president of the CCL.

Meanwhile, Pérez Alván indicated that the new port, airport and road infrastructure (Jorge Chávez airport, Chancay port, Chincheros airport and others) will help the recovery of foreign trade and the economy.

“Trade openness is also crucial for the future of the country; in this sense, we find it positive that the president has mentioned our potential in the Asia Pacific, our accession to the OECD, the Pacific Alliance and trade agreements,” said the Adex union leader.

Regarding the controversial Tía María mining project, De La Tore welcomes the Government’s announcement to carry it out, as he claims it will enable economic reactivation through the creation of 9,000 jobs during the construction phase, and 4,800 permanent jobs, both direct and indirect, with an investment of US$1.4 billion that will generate 120,000 metric tons of refined copper per year.

Gaps in discourse

PeruCámaras believes that there were certain gaps in the presidential message, especially in relation to security, where, for example, an increase in the budget of the Ministry of the Interior was not announced, despite the fact that its resources are currently insufficient.

Likewise, the president of the CCL pointed out that the President of the Republic did not come up with concrete proposals in the face of the frontal fight against common crime and organized crime, a factor that puts the economic and social stability of the country at risk.

“Although progress has been made in arresting gangs, the president did not call on the Congress of the Republic to maintain the norms and mechanisms that seek to combat crime. She also did not mention anything about the modification of the Law against Organized Crime that favors criminal organizations and harms the work of both the National Police of Peru (PNP) and the Public Prosecutor’s Office,” said De La Tore.

However, the business leader highlighted some aspects, such as the creation of four more flagrancy units, support for strengthening the
PNP, as well as the implementation of 12 crime labs nationwide, but stressed that the legal framework for the operation of these units is still lacking.

De La Tore also said that there was a lack of attention to the comprehensive development of borders, security and control of border trade. “We need an emergency plan with dates and indicators and to provide the PNP with the necessary tools. We urgently need to restore security to the country for business development,” he added.

And what about education? The CCL representative regretted that no mention was made of educational strategies and supervision to improve the country’s results in the PISA test in 2025. In this regard, he indicated that the revaluation of Technical Secondary Education and Technical and Technological Higher Education is required; as well as training in dual education through the implementation of a national program.

On the other hand, Zapata Alcázar, from PeruCámaras, also questioned that, in terms of digital transformation to modernize the State, little has been said, despite having a loan from the German Development Bank of 300 million euros for this purpose.He also stated that the legal stability that the president spoke of presupposes the proper functioning of the justice system, which is showing a notable deterioration.

“Although the justice system does not depend on the Executive Branch, the latter could help in its modernization by contributing to its digitalization,” he noted.