Interview: Next Peruvian president expected to focus on economic growth -- expert

Maintaining economic growth will perhaps be the main challenge facing the next Peruvian president, said Carlos Aquino, director of economic research at the National University of San Marcos, in an interview with Xinhua.

"Despite having problems, the Peruvian economy is growing at an average rate far higher than other Latin American countries," and Peru should reach 4 percent GDP growth in 2016, Aquino said.

"However, there are still uncertainties among the private sector as to what the next president's economic priorities will be, as this sector has not grown as much," he said.

Aquino said the two candidates, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski and Keiko Fujimori, who will contest the second round of the presidential elections on Sunday, have outlined a similar platform in terms of economic policies.

CHALLENGES

For the economist, while the two candidates share a common vision for economic development, Kuczynski's experience does mark the difference between them.

"Kuczynski is likely to follow the economic policy Peru has followed since the 1990s, as he has been minister of the economy, an investor and has many contacts around the world," Aquino said.

However, while Kuczynski's experience could boost investor confidence, he might not enjoy majority support in Congress for his full economic agenda, Aquino added.

A Fujimori presidency, though, would likely put more emphasis on social programs, particularly since her Popular Force party has an absolute majority in Congress, with 73 lawmakers out of 130, the expert said.

Unlike Kuczynski, Fujimori's weakness lies in the fact that she has never held any political office, Aquino added.

INVESTMENTS

Aquino said Peru still has many areas that need foreign investment, citing China's investment in the mining sector as an example.

"We have a big lack of ports, airports and highways, for which China can play a big role, like the inter-oceanic railway being considered between Peru and Brazil," he said.

The expert believes agricultural exports can rise to the fore under the next president. The sector has been improving its exports in recent years and "is providing ever more land and ever more chances to invest, even in fishing."

Aquino added that investors will be keen to see a government in place which is able to make the business operating environment more accessible and to speed up the development of infrastructure.

APEC

Since Peru has embarked on economic integration with regional and global blocs such as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), it has become an entryway to new markets, especially China, Aquino said.

The economist added that Peru succeeded in completing a free-trade agreement (FTA) with China, which has helped the country become more globalized.

"2016 will also be very important as, last year, we began a study to create an APEC FTA in the Pacific," he said.

Aquino said the upcoming 2016 APEC Summit in Peru in November will be an ideal setting to present this study and analyze the FTA, which he believes will bring many benefits to Peru. Endi