Environment Minister Juan Carlos Castro stated that Peru seeks to get to the Asia-Pacific Economic Forum (APEC) meeting being competitive and with no bureaucratic barriers, as well as with unblocked projects in the immediate implementation phase.
In an interview with
Andina news agency, the minister explained that the aim is to get to the summit with unblocked projects, in which his sector plays an important role, since each investment initiative needs environmental certification, and there are currently US$14 billion blocked by this permit.
"We want to get to APEC being a competitive country, having made things clear, with no bureaucratic barriers, as well as with a very clear procedure and very specific deadlines, so that investors coming to Peru can realize that projects can really be developed quickly without affecting the quality of the technical assessment of projects, because what we do want is environmentally sustainable projects," he said.
Juan Carlos Castro affirmed that some regulatory changes were made with the aim of reducing paperwork and allowing projects to be unblocked "through very simple actions."
"For example, when a project is submitted to the National Environmental Certification Service for Sustainable Investments (Senace) or any sector, the first phase concerns admissibility, in which the minimum requirements for the file to enter the assessment phase are determined; what happened is that this stage has taken between four months and one year to complete, but the procedure is usually completed in five days," he explained.
The Environment sector's head pointed out that this is being unblocked through the approval of a Supreme Decree, which removes barriers to such investment initiatives for one year.
"We will reduce the time so that a project can be developed practically within a year to a year and a half. Thus, we would become a competitive country like our neighbor, Chile, which approves projects in one year. We are approving projects in five and even eight years," he added.
On the other hand, the Cabinet member underscored that APEC has economic growth, technical assistance, and innovation as its pillars; so, the
Ministry of Environment (Minem) plays a fundamental role in bolstering these pillars.
(END) JCC/CVC/RMB/MVB
Published: 4/23/2024