A Peruvian expert has called on President-elect Ollanta Humala to promote regional empowerment through agriculture, amid worries the new leader could de-rail development, website Agraria.pe reported.

Octavio Chirinos, who heads up the agri-business masters programme at ESAN University, told the website Peru's strategy should remain focused on greater openness to the world.

"The world is our horizon, not only with coastal products such as asparagus and avocadoes, but those in the forest like cocoa, coffee, camu camu, and in the mountains with maca, quinoa and amaranth; markets have been developed rapidly and we can't stop - forestry development should be our priority," Chirinos was quoted as saying.

"To reach these objectives we need to empower the regions but I'm not sure this topic is in the strategies of the new government, as I'm seeing more of an interest not to touch these resources called environmental wealth, which ultimately would attract a lot of investment, generate thousands of jobs and benefit the country.

"Like all Peruvians I have hope that all the positive impacts of agricultural development encouraged in the last 10 years aren't cut off, and I see the various declarations of the president-elect as a risk factor, insisting on reviving UNASUR (Union of South American Nations)."

Humala recently went on a diplomatic tour of Colombia, Brazil and Chile, which produced mixed results according to Chirinos.

Chirinos said Peru needed strategic partners like Colombia to develop exports for cocoa, coffee and palm oil and reach markets in Asia and Europe, the story reported.

"Hopefully we have a better relation with the country to the north (Colombia), although the visit (Humala's tour) didn't awaken many expectations - I saw it as a little cold," he was quoted as saying.

"On the other hand, to achieve important forestry development and improve the productivity of rubber and latex, among other things, I saw somewhat effective relations with Brazil."

Chirinos also highlighted Chile as the regional leader in the traditional products and forestry resources Peru hopes to further develop.

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Photo: Peruvian Times

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