Peru partners with other countries to seduce China at Expo Shanghai 2010

Peru organizes joint activities with Colombia, Brazil and United States at Shanghai World Exposition, in order to promote themselves better and attract capital and tourists.

Peru to be promoted as luxury tourist destination in Expo Shanghai

Peru’s Export and Tourism Promotion Board (Promperu) will participate in Asia Luxury Travel Market (ALTM), a Reed Travel Exhibitions show to be held in Shanghai, China, on June 14-18 within the framework of Expo Shanghai 2010 set to kick off on Saturday.

Peruvian pavilion at Shanghai Expo to attract some 40000 visitors on first day

Some 40000 visitors of different nationalities and ages are expected to visit the Peruvian pavilion at Shanghai World Expo, which officially opened today, May 1, Peru’s Foreign Ministry reported.

Nov 14 (REUTERS) – APEC leaders tackle climate change negotiations and economic integration, as Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama stresses the need for free trade zone.
Penny Tweedie, Reuters

Obama seeks stronger links in Asia

Nov 14 (REUTERS) – United States President Barack Obama pushes for greater U.S. involvement in Asia, welcoming a “strong, prosperous” China.
Penny Tweedie, Reuters.

China to lead Somalia piracy fight

Nov 13 (REUTERS) – China will assume a leadership role in an international coalition fighting maritime piracy off Somalia, signaling its navy’s growing ambitions beyond Chinese waters.
Stefanie McIntyre reports.

Nov 12 (Reuters) – Finance ministers take a punch at describing the economic recovery in one word or sentence.

The consensus among 21-member Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) finance ministers was that the economic situation is better, but U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said it will take time to bring unemployment down and early recovery efforts must be supported.

SOUNDBITES:

UNITED STATES TREASURY SECRETARY TIMOTHY GEITHNER

CANADIAN FINANCE MINISTER JIM FLAHERTY

INDONESIAN FINANCE MINISTER SRI MULYANI INDRAWATI
PAPUA NEW GUINEA VICE MINISTER FOR TREASURY AND FINANCE

HONG KONG FINANCIAL SECRETARY JOHN TSANG

MALAYSIAN DEPUTY FINANCE MINISTER AHMAD HUSNI

NEW ZEALAND FINANCE MINISTER BILL ENGLISH

SINGAPORE FINANCE MINISTER THARMAN SHANMUGARATNAM

TAIWAN MINISTER OF FINANCE LEE SUSH-DER

SOUTH KOREAN DEPUTY MINISTER FOR INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

RUSSIAN DEPUTY FINANCE MINISTER

JAPAN PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY FOR FINANCE

CHILEAN VICE MINISTER FOR FINANCE

international.gc.ca

U.S.’s Treasury’s Geithner to attend Singapore APEC meeting – Reuters

WASHINGTON, Oct 23 (Reuters) – U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner travels to Singapore to attend a meeting of finance ministers who are members of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum for one day next month.

China Minmetals eyes gold mines in Australia, Canada – Reuters

* Company to start construction at Peru copper mine next yr

* Production at Peru mine scheduled to begin in 2012 (Adds background, bylines)

By Rujun Shen and Joseph Chaney

TIANJIN, Oct 22 (Reuters) – Chinese state-owned metals trader China Minmetals Corp. [CHMIN.UL] is looking to buy gold mines in Australia and Canada, a senior executive said on Thursday.

Huang Dongmei, deputy general manager of China Minmetals Exploration and Development Ltd, made the remarks at an industry forum in China’s port city of Tianjin.

Separately, a Minmetals executive at the China Mining conference here said on Wednesday that the company would launch construction at its Galeno copper mine in Peru next year, with production due to start in 2012. [ID:nPEK200915]

Ecuador Seeks Cash to End Three-Year Oil Output Drop (Update1) – Bloomberg

Oct. 27 (Bloomberg) — Ecuador, the smallest member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, is seeking to attract investment from state-run companies in Latin America, Russia and China to reverse a three-year drop in crude output.

Ecuador is forging alliances to explore and produce crude as lower investment by privately-owned companies causes production to drop as much as 6.6 percent this year, Julio Gonzalez, undersecretary of hydrocarbons policy at the Ministry of Non-Renewable Natural Resources, said in an interview.

“The government’s priority is to do this with state companies,” Gonzalez said yesterday at the ministry in Quito.

Kevin Rudd’s vision for Asia-Pacific community evolves – The Australian

KEVIN Rudd’s concept of an Asia-Pacific community by 2020 has been canvassed at the weekend’s East Asia summit in Thailand together with a rival vision from new Japanese leader Yukio Hatoyama.

East Asian leaders meeting in Hua Hin yesterday discussed the broad regional architecture, with the Prime Minister promoting his plan both at the formal leaders’ meeting and in a series on bilateral discussions.

“What I detect across the region is an openness to a discussion about how we evolve our regional architecture into the future,” Mr Rudd said yesterday.

“It’s important that we are in a conscious discussion and a conscious process to evolve options for regional institutions in the future rather than just sitting back and waiting for big problems to emerge.”

About sixteen Peruvian Micro-Entrepreneurs (if that’s the correct term to call them) from various sectors will travel to Guangzhou, China to participate in the 106^th Guangzhou Import and Export fair.  With a total of 209 countries in attendance, and thousands of exhibitors, this is a big deal for these small Peruvian businesses.

I question if these business are truly worthy of being called the products of micro-finance.  I hope that they are, but my gut is telling me it’s quite possible corruption and classic South American favoritism probably led the Peruvian government to carefully handpick a few to send to China.

Ministra de la Producción, Mercedes Aráoz, inauguró Feria de Beneficios y Oportunidades de Foncopés en IPAE. Foto: ANDINA/Norman Córdova.

On the other hand, if they are truly small micro-enterprises which earned this trip to China through participating in a micro-finance program of some sort, this would be a case and point example of the potential of micro-finance institutions to empower the poor with the tools they need to succeed.

If you can read Spanish please click here to access the article which served the basis for this post.

China wants to boost cooperation with members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to develop trade and increase investment, said Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming.

[ASEAN] - Five Asean Nations May Form Rice-Trade Body, Thai Official Says - Bloomberg

Five Southeast Asian nations may set up a rice-trade association next year to cooperate in stabilizing rice prices, a Thai official said.

Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar will also cooperate on other issues related to food security and production, said Chiya Yimvilai, a spokesman at a meeting of Asean economic ministers in Bangkok. The countries would also work together on developing rice products, he said.

[Venezuela - Russia] – PDVSA, Russian Group to Start $30 Billion Oil Venture – Bloomberg

Petroleos de Venezuela SA and a group of Russian oil companies plan to spend $30 billion on a joint venture in Venezuela’s Orinoco region.

The 40-year venture will seek to produce crude in the Junin 6 area and may expand to other Orinoco blocks, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin told reporters in St. Petersburg today after meeting with Venezuelan Vice President Ramon Carrizalez. Russian investors will include OAO Gazprom, OAO Rosneft, OAO Lukoil, TNK-BP and OAO Surgutneftegaz. The venture will be signed “in the coming months,” Sechin said.

[Mexico - Uruguay] – Mexico/Uruguay sign strategic association accord and advance trade – MecroPress

Mexico president Felipe Calderón and Uruguay’s Tabare Vazquez signed on Friday in Montevideo a Strategic Association accord to strengthen political dialogue and bilateral trade relations in the framework of the 2004 free trade agreement.

[Mexico - Colombia - Venezuela - Ecuador] - Mexico offers to mediate between Colombia and Venezuela and Ecuador – MecroPress
Mexican president Felipe Calderón on an official visit to Colombia offered his country’s mediation in the conflict between Bogotá and neighbouring Ecuador and Venezuela.

[Peru - Brazil] - Brazilian President to visit Peru to strengthen strategic alliance – Andina
The next arrival to Lima of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will contribute to create a new strategic alliance to face Asian markets when signing several trade agreements, the President of Peru-Brazil Integration Chamber Miguel Vega Alvear.

“The arrival of Brazilian President will strengthen the progress achieved up to now in this Peru-Brazil strategic alliance and it will create a new stage in which both countries can face Asia-Pacific markets,”

a2a_linkname=”Newswire – South South Emerging Market Cooperation”;a2a_linkurl=”http://chinasouthamerica.blogspot.com/2009/08/newswire-south-south-emerging-market.html”;

Brazilian federal power holding company Eletrobrás (NYSE: EBR) is planning to buy a Peruvian generator to participate in an upcoming hydro auction in Peru, company CEO José Antonio Muniz Lopes told journalists. The executive declined to say which generator Eletrobrás was looking to acquire but said the purchase was essential for the Brazilian holding group to operate in Peru.

[Peru – Brazil] – Brazil, Peru Work Out Details of Hydro Plants – Latin American Herald

Energy ministers from Brazil and Peru announced details of plans for several hydroelectric plants to be built in the Andean nation, saying after a meeting that 80 percent of the energy generated by the stations would go to Brazil and the rest to Peru.

Both partners will have the right to sell their respective energy quotas to other South American countries, Brazilian Mines and Energy Minister Edison Lobao said Friday after a meeting in Rio de Janeiro with his Peruvian counterpart, Pedro Sanchez.

The first five power stations – to be built in Peru’s eastern lowlands at a cost of between $12-15 billion – will generate a combined total of 6,000 megawatts annually once they come on stream in 2015.

[Peru – South Korea] - Peru, S Korea examine tomorrow progress of APEC bilateral agreements – Andina

Peru and South Korea examine on Wednesday the progress of the bilateral agreements achieved by Presidents Alan Garcia and Lee Myung-bak during the summit of leaders of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) held in Lima in November 2008, the Korean Embassy reported. “The agreement achieved last year includes mutual cooperation in oil, mineral and natural gas sectors”, the Ambassy reported.

[Peru – Japan] - Peru, JICA to invest US$ 23.3 million in 6 new docks in Peru – Andina

Peru’s Government and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will invest 70 million soles (around 23.7 million dollars) in the construction of 6 new docks located along the Peruvian coast, reported today Production Minister Mercedez Araoz.

[Venezuela – Russia] – Russia Promotes “Energy Alliance” with Venezuela – Latin American Herald

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Tuesday he was ready to promote an “energy alliance” of global oil giants Russia and Venezuela, and confirmed his willingness to study Caracas’ requests for additional arms purchases.

Putin told Venezuelan Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez that Russia will employ “the most modern equipment and technologies” to carry out plans for cooperation with Venezuela in the oil and gas sector.

[Venezuela – Brazil] – Brazil To Export Coffee Immediately to Venezuela – Latin American Herald

The accord was struck by representatives of the ministry and the state-run firm Cafe Venezuela last Friday and represents $4.1 million in revenue for small producers and family cooperatives in southeastern Brazil.