The World Bank's US$40 million loan to Peru for its National Program for Fishery and Aquafarming Innovation will allow the country to become a reference in aquaculture, Production Minister Bruno Giuffra highlighted.
"[Thanks to the said loan] we will enhance Peruvian fishery and aquafarming value chains and lessen dependence on fish catching, as well as work with the vision to turn our country into a reference in aquaculture," he said.
The mentioned program aims at boosting fishery and aquafarming innovation by funding activities, as well as research and technical assistance projects.
"A total of 1984 research, development and innovation projects are expected to be financed through the National Program for Fishery and Aquafarming Innovation," Giuffra affirmed.
The program entails the participation of some 23,000 people, among entrepreneurs and service providers, as well as 260 institutions.
Decentralization
The program will be implemented in a decentralized manner through six macro-regional offices to guarantee support for activities linked to the demands of fishermen, aquafarmers and enterprises from each Peruvian region.
Peru is one of the world's largest producers of fish thanks to its geographic location, which allows the country to provide almost 20% of fish catches worldwide, mainly small species such as anchovy.
Such fishing has been vital to national economy, accounting for 7% of the country's exports in the past decade.
This project is aligned with the two main goals of the Peruvian government in this area.
The first is to develop the fishery and aquafarming sector and thus redirect the marine fishing strategy towards the relative increase of species other than anchovy while guaranteeing the saltwater biomass' sustainability.
Secondly, the government is working to expand the marine and freshwater aquafarming system to promote investment through value chains to increase income, create jobs and improve the nutrition of the population, especially the low-income sector.
Sustainability
Alberto Rodriguez, World Bank Regional Director for Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela, stressed this program will help promote innovation and sustainability of the Peruvian fishery and aquafarming system.
"[Said program] will support government's efforts to stimulate the development of the sector, thus generating more jobs, economic income [...]," he stated.
The program has a total cost of US$120.9 million, of which the Ministry of the Economy and Finance will provide US$80.9 million.
The project is set to be completed in 2022. The loan repayment period is 9.5 years, including a 5.5-year grace period.
(END) MDV/MDV/JHM/MVB