FROM EIR DAILY ALERT

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Official Daily of Peru Puts Its Role with China’s ‘New Silk Road’ on National Agenda

May 2, 2018 (EIRNS)—El Peruano, Peru’s official daily, published a two-part article by economist Carlos Aquino Rodriguez on April 24 & 25, which puts discussion of Peru’s potential role in China’s Belt and Road on the national agenda.

The New Silk road is not just about connectivity infrastructure, but also involves “mutual cooperation” in areas such as agriculture, exploration and exploitation of mineral resources, and emerging industries, such as biotechnology, and Ibero-America and the Caribbean are invited to participate.

As for Peru, our country can take advantage of China’s Belt and Road Initiative to improve our logistical infrastructure; use their scholarships and step up cultural exchanges, and ensure Peru’s scientists have access to the technological knowledge of China,

“a nation which went from being a predominantly agrarian country to an industrial giant in the almost 40 years of economic reforms, and is now oriented to the production of high value-added technology and goods,”

Aquino wrote.

He proposes that Peru’s port at Callao is “saturated,” and China, which has three of the top ten ports in the world, could help convert it into a hub. The proposed transcontinental railway is wrongly downplayed, because of supposed cost to Peru of the northern Peru-Brazil route, but Aquino argues that Peru should take advantage of the railroad technology developed by China “to unite parts of the country which have connectivity problems,” regardless of the decision on the transcontinental railway.