Peru's Economy and Finance Minister Alfredo Thorne on Monday highlighted the role of education in enhancing productivity and formalization levels.
"Looking forward, we need new sources of growth, and education is precisely an instrument to become more productive and upgrade the quality of infrastructure in order to reduce [economic] informality," he said from Southern Ayacucho region, where he joined President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski in official activities.
Gradual budget rise
In this sense, the Finance head commented on a government program to gradually increase the country's education budget, currently at 20% of the General Budget.
"We need two things: the first one is better-quality education infrastructure —that's what investments are for— but, above all, [we need] to upgrade the quality of our teachers and the education for our students," he pointed out.
Quality employment
In this vein, better education will lead to more quality jobs in order to scale up productivity.
"While enhancing the quality of lands and reservoirs is important, so is providing more education to the population migrating to cities with neither educational background nor jobs," he said.
"What we must offer from the economic sphere are more better-quality jobs to increase productivity in the long term," he added.
Connectivity and gas
On the other hand, the minister underlined the relevance of connectivity for farmers based in Apurimac, Ene and Mantaro Rivers' Valley (Vraem) to gain market access.
Likewise, he addressed gas massification in Peru's interior provinces, a pledge made by Mr. Kuczynski during his presidential campaign that "will become a reality."
Similarly, he stressed the Andean region's potential to host high-tech industries, as these present "the best adaptation to high altitude."
"In this context, we should begin Ayacucho's industrial development with low-energy costs," he concluded.
(END) CNA/JJN/DHT/MVB