Peru: Exporters’ Association requests authorities to prioritize works benefiting foreign trade

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Peruvian Exporters Association (ADEX) sent a letter to the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) requesting the prioritization of works and the inclusion of others in the National Infrastructure and Competitiveness Plan (PNIC).

According to the Association, the above is because Peruvian foreign trade actors operate under “harsh conditions” that make them less competitive than their peers in other countries.

The letter signed by the president of the association, Julio Pérez Alván, requested to integrate the working groups that support the identification of solutions to infrastructure problems and proposed the need to prioritize a series of works in Callao, Lima, and Paita, to improve the flow of foreign trade and economic recovery.

In line with what was reported, exporters, importers, and users would consider the case of Callao a priority and urgent, as it would face serious congestion; in that sense, Perez considered it urgent to facilitate several alternative transit routes to ensure fluidity.

“Businessmen hope that measures will be taken to alleviate the cost overruns, especially those related to energy, logistics, and transportation, which have worsened as a result of the global impact of the pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war”, he said.

Regarding energy, ADEX proposed prioritizing the development of the gas distribution, hydro-energy, and wind power projects in the main cities. It also drew attention to the limited supply of LPG gas.

Concerning transportation logistics, and due to the cancellation of ship unloading due to storm surges, it suggested investing in the installation of a berth inside the northern breakwater of the Port of Callao.

Another issue of concern is the severe congestion in the land access to the port and airport of Callao, which has worsened since the end of 2021 and which is estimated to extend for at least two more years due to the construction of Line 2 of the Metro (which reduced to one third the transit capacity of both the port and the airport), as well as the expansion of the third DPWC berth, the construction of the second runway and the new LAP passenger terminal and others, it was pointed out.

PRIORITIZE WORKS IN CALLAO AND PAITA

ADEX suggested prioritizing the execution of works in Callao, particularly those related to alternative roads, as they will improve connectivity, help with decongestion and make logistics and foreign trade more competitive.

Likewise, he expressed his interest in the start or continuation of major works such as the pre-port in Callao -which will alleviate the chaos and congestion towards the port-; and in the Port of Paita, the expansion and improvement of the descent to the port and the transfer of the truck control point at the top.

MAJOR WORKS

In the same line, the business association referred that in Callao and Lima, it is necessary to promote investments to build several bypasses to imperatively improve the connectivity of the port/foreport with the rest of Lima (direct road without cuts) and to free the passage of heavy transport from west to east and vice versa.

They also mentioned the truck corridor, which is necessary to connect the port/foreport with the rest of Lima (direct road without cuts and congestion), the peri-urban road (start the investment process in Proinversion), the northern peripheral road, and the Santa Rosa bridge (access to the new passenger terminal of the Jorge Chavez airport), among others.

Some complementary works are road interchanges, bypass roads, pedestrian bridges, and the national road network. In Piura, the urgent need to attend to the cargo flow through the new peripheral road from Chapaira-Piura to IIRSA Norte must be considered, so cargo access must be solved without complicating the district of Castilla.

With information from PortalPortuario