Viaje lo llevó a Japón y Corea del Sur.

El presidente de la República, Ollanta Humala, concluyó hoy su gira oficial por el continente asiático y se encuentra viajando de retorno a Perú.

El jefe de Estado y su comitiva despegaron en el avión presidencial peruano hoy desde Yeosu (Corea del Sur), confirmó a la agencia, la delegación de Perú en la Expo 2012.

Allí, el mandatario inauguró a primera hora el pabellón peruano, que definió como “un espacio de reflexión y de respeto al mar y al agua en general” en sintonía con el tema central de la Expo, que es la conservación global de los océanos y los recursos marinos.

Durante los cinco días de su gira, la primera que realiza por Asia desde su nombramiento, Humala ha mantenido reuniones con el presidente surcoreano, Lee Myung-bak, y con el primer ministro nipón Yoshihiko Noda, en los que se ha reforzado la cooperación mutua en varias materias.

García Belaunde: “El futuro del Perú pasa por el Asia Pacífico” de El Comercio

El ex canciller sostuvo que apostar por mercados como Japón y Corea del Sur es clave ante la crisis económica europea

El futuro del Perú y del mundo pasa hoy por la zona Asia Pacífico, y el Gobierno hace bien en profundizar su presencia en esa importante área económica para buscar nuevos mercados y mayores inversiones, opinó hoy el excanciller José Antonio García Belaunde.

En un contexto de crisis internacional que afecta a la zona europea, sostuvo apostar por importantes mercados asiáticos como Japón y Corea del Sur es clave para asegurar la continuidad del crecimiento económico del país.

Perú y Corea pueden ser el puente que una Latinoamérica y Asia de Andina.com

Seúl, may. 11 (ANDINA). Perú y Corea del Sur pueden convertirse en el puente que una a Latinoamérica y Asia, mediante el establecimiento de rutas aerocomerciales de carga y de pasajeros entre Lima y Seúl, estimó hoy el presidente Ollanta Humala.

Señaló que promover esa ruta ha sido uno de los objetivos de su visita de Estado a Seúl.

“Dentro de mi preocupación, como gobierno, está promover, invitar y conversar con empresas coreanas para cubrir una línea comercial de transporte de pasajeros y de carga, que permita crear ese puente que debe haber entre Asia y Latinoamérica, a través de Perú y de Corea”, declaró a periodistas.

Ese sería un negocio rentable, añadió durante su exposición ante empresarios coreanos sobre el potencial de inversiones que existe en Perú.

Está previsto actualmente el ingreso de la aerolínea Korean Air a Perú, inicialmente por carga, y su eventual ampliación al transporte de pasajeros incrementará el flujo turístico al país andino, según la Cámara Nacional de Turismo (Canatur).

Incredible.

A region of the world full of small and large countries with unique and distinct cultures & systems of governance were able to come together as a “region,” and negotiate with economic & political powers such as China, Japan and South Korea… AND COME TO AN AGREEMENT. .

Part of this petition to is get people to realize the Americas (from Canada down to Argentina), should be more than capable of creating the foundations of acting together as a region, and spreading prosperity from our plentiful lands and resources.

Sign this petition, because you can’t leave a country like Cuba out of dialogue & exchange in the Americas for archaic reasons dating to the cold war. It’s not fair when we see success elsewhere in ASEAN between countries of very mixed backgrounds…

Click here to more about this development from CNBC

The Multiple Realities of Latin America – The Latin Business Chronicle

Latin America as a uniform structure can become a delusion for those who have to make regional business decisions.

BY DARIO CUTIN

PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico — The public and private dialogues during the 2012 edition of the World Economic Forum for Latin America have served as a reminder of the fact that considering Latin America as a homogenous region or market is a mistake that can have a negative impact in the organizational, business and communications planning process.

The more the leaders know about the region, the more they agree that this area of the world is not a block nor does it act as if it will become one. It is rather a theoretical aggregate of multiple realities and complexities that have common roots and characteristics, but also many nuances that differentiate one country and market from another.

This region has deep cultural connections – and only to some extent geopolitical and economic similarities – but it also has a diversity that is impossible to understand by reviewing a spreadsheet or looking through a computer window. The only way to comprehend this region is talking and expending time with its leaders and their people, which are essential ways to understand where their priorities and concerns are common or different.

Since many countries have Spanish as their official language, it is tempting for newcomers to perceive that everything is relatively the same in Latin America… Over time, however, they can recognize that not even language escapes from the differences in each corner of the region.

In regards to the economy, between markets that are emerging, submerged or in the emergency room, the differences are even more accentuated. For instance, the size of Mexico and Brazil makes those two countries impossible to compare with the rest of the region. This situation calls for objectives views while preparing plans for Latin America: it is difficult for regional business or communications leaders to perceive, remember and consider the nuances in the region if they are based on the two largest economies of the region. Otherwise, distance is necessary and indispensable to ensure a general view to consider commonalities and differences within the region.

From a communications perspective, if we had to name the most relevant common characteristic throughout the region, that should be the openness and interest in in-person and small group dialogues. Latin Americans are always eager to talk and exchange ideas. Consequently, organizations must allocate the resources and time needed to develop solid and credible spokespeople to serve as messengers during in person, live conversations.

Along these lines, one highlight of the Forum this year in Mexico is the absence of many private or public sector leaders from several countries, who did not join the conversation to help establish the common ground of priorities for the region, as well to communicate the nuances between the neighbors for the common good. The absence of those senior leaders creates a communication gap that will be perceived, regionally and locally, as a lack of interest and avoidance of business and communications responsibilities.

REGIONAL OR LOCAL COMMUNICATIONS?

A question came up frequently while speaking with many leaders in recent days about the multiple realities of Latin America: if there are so many differences between the key markets, do we need regional communication plans?

I firmly believe that regional communications plans are necessary and worthwhile because they allow organizations to have a consistent, coherent and effective message to support their business plans. However, these plans should include processes and tools to ensure that regional initiatives are leveraged, adapted, customized and even supplemented with local tactics that address the realities, priorities, special circumstances, needs and characteristics of each country or market.

Those regional plans must have a long term approach. They should avoid “easy” solutions, because strategic communications require time, professionalism, personal dedication and reasonable resources over time. Moreover, they call for orchestrated efforts instead of spontaneous and brief attempts to “do some magic,” have a smart, isolated “spin,” or “create some buzz.”

Despite that various leaders don’t like it, building the image and reputation of an organization takes a long term, meaningful and disciplined approach, with the direct involvement of the leaders themselves. It is impossible to establish a good reputation in an impersonal or isolated manner, and it certainly can’t be nurtured in two days or one month… conversely, it can be destroyed pretty quickly if not protected… locally and regionally.

Dario Cutin is Partner and Managing Director, Client Services Latin America, Fleishman-Hillard.

Better Education Quality Needed

Formal education and skills aren’t connecting in Latin America.

BY GABRIEL SANCHEZ ZINNY

Education advocates in Latin America have long pushed for expanded access for all students. Indeed, access has improved, with secondary school completion rates climbing from 30 to 50 percent over the past two decades. However, there is a growing realization that greater access alone will do little good without higher quality.

Business leaders, in particular, have argued that there is a profound disconnect between what schools are teaching and what is actually required for a worker to succeed in a globalized, innovation-driven, and knowledge-based modern economy. “There are very talented people in the region. All they need is a chance to develop,” says Felipe Vergara, co-founder of Lumni, a company that invests in students’ education in exchange for a fixed portion of the income they will go on to receive with their improved career path.

Click here to read the complete article direct from the Latin Business Chronicle

What’s Watt’s Doing In China?

A Chilean dairy company finds success in China.

BY RUTH MORRIS

SHANGHAI– It’s never been a problem for Chile to sell copper to China. The Chinese came knocking, hungry for the metal to wire new cities and factories as the Chinese economy hit full steam. Copper accounts for roughly 85 percent of Chile’s export sales to the Asian giant.

Knocking on China’s door is another story… and one Juan José Vidal knows well.

As the Asia business manager for Watt’s S.A., one of Chile’s leading food companies, it’s his job to bring an array of jams, juices, cheese and baby formula to the Middle Kingdom and beyond. The company’s products hit Chinese grocery stores three years ago.

Click here to read the complete article direct from the Latin Business Chronicle

Argentina: Back to the Future

Argentina’s expropriation of YPF defies all logic.

BY JERRY HAAR

The well-received 1985 movie “Back to the Future” was followed by two sequels. The fourth sequel is currently playing in Argentina—not on the big screen but in the political economy of that nation. This nation of 40 million has once more slid back into an imbecilic morass of demagoguery, authoritarianism, mindless statism and self-destructiveness. Don’t cry for Argentina; this toxic elixir was 100 percent brewed and imbibed by the political class in that nation.

In a move that defies all logic, President Cristina Fernandez has renationalized YPF, the nation’s largest oil company, booting out Repsol as majority shareholder. The biggest natural resources renationalization since the Russian government took control of Yukos oil a decade ago, President Fernandez’s claim that the renationalization was done due to YPF’s failure to invest in the oil sector simply does not wash. YPF has had every right to repatriate profits and dividends to its Spanish majority shareholders. It is the Argentine government’s failed energy policy and setting of domestic prices far below international levels that are the true culprits here. Cristina’s vehement assertion that “I am a head of state and not a hoodlum” is akin to Richard Nixon’s assertion: “I’m not a crook.”

Click here to read the complete article direct from the Latin Business Chronicle

* Mexico aims for more balanced, sustainable trade

* China provides Mexico with 15 percent of its imports

* Less than 2 percent of Mexico’s exports go to China

By David Alire Garcia

PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico, April 20 (Reuters) – Mexico said on Friday it had reached an accord with China aimed at promoting fairer bilateral commerce and announced joint business deals and investment worth some $560 million.

Mexico’s Economy Ministry said the agreement with Beijing would stop “unfair Chinese practices” in shoemaking, one of the main industries in Mexico to complain that China is flooding it with cheap imports.

The two signed business deals worth $300 million and agreed on new investments worth $260 million, the ministry said. It did not provide further details.

Click here to read the complete article direct from Reuters

However click here to read about the soap opera that has become Sinopec of China’s attempt to buy 57% of Repsol of Spain, stake in Argentina’s oil company YPF (Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales) before it was nationalized by Buenos Aires.

There’s been a spike in the past week or so of news articles pertaining to China – Latin America.  Beyond the ever changing dynamics of Sino-Latin American relations financial news media is increasingly questioning the sustainability of growth in Latin America.  Specifically in countries that are heavily dependent on commodity exports to China. Here’s a few of the major stories which caught my attention:

Latin America warned over China slowdown – Financial Times

Latin America’s economies have become increasingly resilient to global shocks but they have not prepared for a possible slowdown in China, according to the Institute of International Finance, which represents the global banking industry.

Most of the countries in the region, whose economic growth was expected to slow to 3.7 per cent this year from 4 per cent last year due to weakness in the eurozone, should use the present commodity super-cycle to undertake more serious reforms to improve productivity, said Ramón Aracena, IIF deputy director of Latin America.

Click here to read the complete article from the Financial Times

China’s Rise and Latin America: A Global, Long-Term Perspective – Carnegieendowment

Over the past decade, China has become an increasingly important economic partner for Latin America. But this trend must be placed in proper perspective. Even as trade and investment links between China and Latin America have grown, the United States and Europe are—and will continue to be—vital trading partners for the region. Moreover, China’s rise is only one part of a broader shift towards a world in which emerging markets have greater economic weight. Policymakers in Latin America need to view China’s growing influence within the context of both current economic patterns and long-term global trends.

Click here to read the complete article from the Carnegieendowment

Citi launches Latin America Trade Desk in China – BBR

Citi’s Global Transaction Services has launched its new Latin America Trade Desk in Shanghai, China, to serve as a link for Latin American clients to Asia.

The new trade desk will cater specific needs of importers and exporters, as well as market practices for trading between these two regions.

It will offer tailored suite of trade services and finance solutions, including access to Citi’s global trade network and local expertise through its branch network in over 40 countries in Asia and Latin America.

Click here to read the complete article from the BBR (Banking Services Review)

Commentary: China’s rising wages may benefit Latin America – Miami Herald via Kansas City Star

Good news for Latin America: wages in China, Vietnam and other Asian countries are rising faster than expected, leading growing numbers of multinational firms to move their manufacturing plants to Mexico and other countries closer to the U.S. market.

The Feb. 19 announcement by Foxconn Technology Group, which assembles iPads and other products for Apple, Dell, Nokia, Motorola and other firms in China, that it has raised pay for its workers by 16 to 25 percent was just the latest example of how fast Chinese salaries are rising. It was Foxconn’s third wage hike since 2010.

“More and more companies are telling us that wages are rising faster than they expected,” says Harold Sirkin, managing partner of the Boston Consulting Group, which recently published a study on China’s wages.

Click here to read the complete article

Latin America seen very dependent on commodities – Market Watch

SAO PAULO — Latin America must take steps to defend itself from a growing reliance on commodities and China, while currency appreciation is warranted given the economic improvements relative to developed markets, the Institute of International Finance said on Thursday.

“Growing dependency on commodities and China requires improving lines of defense against sharp and sustained terms of trade losses,” the IIF said in its latest regional overview.

The region’s improvements relative to developed economies “suggest that appreciation pressures on local currencies are to some extent warranted,” the IIF said. To cope, countries must improve productivity and reduce government spending deficits “so as to widen the scope for interest-rate cuts,” it said.

Click here to read the complete article from the MarketWatch

Latam growth speeding, reforms needed -IIF Reuters

RIO DE JANEIRO, March 8 (Reuters) – Economic growth in Latin America should speed to 4.5 percent in 2013 thanks to monetary stimulus and steadier global conditions, raising the risk of policy complacency, the Institute of International Finance said on Thursday.

Demand for the region’s raw material exports has also strengthened local currencies, highlighting the need for reforms to boost productivity and reduce government deficits, the IIF said in a report presented by managing director Charles Dallara.

“While stronger macroeconomic positions have bolstered Latin America’s resilience to external shocks, luck has been on the region’s side,” the report said. Higher commodities prices are bolstering the region’s economies, according to the report, but masking bad policy in some countries.

Click here to read the complete article from the MarketWatch

QUITO, March 5 (Reuters) – Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa on Tuesday signed the country’s first ever large-scale mining contract, which calls for Chinese-owned Ecuacorriente to invest $1.4 billion in the El Mirador copper project.

Ecuador has no mining industry to speak of and Correa, a U.S. trained economist, is eager to attract investment to tap the country’s big copper, gold and silver deposits and diversify the economy from its dependency on oil exports.

Correa is trying to reap lofty benefits from miners and negotiations with Ecuacorriente and Canada’s Kinross, which plans to develop the Fruta del Norte gold project, have taken much longer than initially expected.

Aljazeera added to the wealth today by publishing the transcript of a interview they conducted with former Peruvian Ambassador to China, and current Ambassador to the US - Harold Forsyth.  In the interview Aljazeera reporter Eddie Walshe discusses with Ambassador Forsyth his perspective on the growing importance of Asia-Pacific cooperation and more particularly, how Peru fits into the Asia-Pacific triangle of the Greater Asia region (with a special emphasis on China), North America and South America.

As someone who personally believes the growth of trade and exchange between nations of the Asia Pacific and the Americas (North & South) will be the most important network of exchange this century, I highly recommend giving it a read.

Click here to access Peru’s place in the triangle of Asia-Pacific security, published by Aljazeera

What people around the world define as the Asia-Pacific region varies widely, for your author (me) I consider it to include all nations, cultures and territories on both sides of the Pacific Ocean.  This means “Oceania,” despite being a region in itself must naturally be included.  It also tends to include India, because although India is usually not considered a “Pacific” nation, it is a major geopolitical power in this equation.

Within the Asia-Pacific region there is however a level of exchange and interaction which is far more significant when looking at the greater region as a whole — and that, in my opinion is the triangular interaction of North East Asia (China, South Korea, Japan), North America, and South America.  Of course, one could argue discounting Russia, India, Australia and the nations of SE Asia and leaves many players out of the equation. I only do so because their links to the America’s are relatively small when compared with China, South Korea and Japan.

Why is this triangular network so important you ask?  Let’s quickly review some facts which come to mind pertaining to a few specific categories — Economic output & International Trade, Commodity production/ consumption (energy, metals and agriculture), and geopolitical security

• The Asia-Pacific region includes the world’s three largest economies — The United States, China (PRC), and Japan.
• These three economies make up a large portion of global economic output, commodity consumption/production, and trade.
• In terms of commodity consumption & production you find within this triangle (to name a few):
• Top 5 iron ore producers – Brazil, China, Australia, India and Russia
• Top 4 iron ore consumers – China, Russia, Japan and South Korea
• A few of the top energy producers, Russia (#1), the US, China, Venezuela and ever more significant levels of energy production coming from Brazil and Canada
• The top 5 oil consumers – United States, China, Japan, Russia, and India
• The Top 5 copper producers – Chile, Peru, the US, China, Australia
• 3/5 of the top copper consumers – China, India & the US
• Major sources of precious metal production (Gold & Silver) Russia, China, Australia, Peru, Chile & the US
• Major sources of precious metal demand – China, & the US
• Major centers of global food production – Russia, the US and South America as a whole
• Major centers of food consumption – China, India, & the US
• Finally, the Asia-Pacific region includes many of the 21st century’s most potentially volatile geopolitical security issues. To name a few:
• US-China relations
• NE Asia which includes everything from
• The balance of power between China, Japan, and Korea (and Russia) … and ultimately how the US factors into this region
• The Korean Peninsula and all the related issues from re-unification of North & South Korea to proliferation of arms by North Korea
• The South China Seas
• The quagmire of complex inter-country relations in SE Asia
• Taiwan
• ETC