Marcovich (third from right) and Santisteban (third from left)with other delegates at a meeting in Doha yesterday: Picture: Jayaram
By Ramesh Mathew/Staff Reporter
The South American nation of Peru hopes its growing relations with the GCC states in recent years would be mutually beneficial to the people of this region and their country in the coming years.
Speaking to Gulf Times yesterday, Santiago Marcovich, senior official from the Peruvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said their nation was eagerly looking forward to the state visit of HH the Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, scheduled to begin on February 14.
“We Peruvians are extremely happy at the scheduled visit of Qatar’s Emir to our country during which a number of agreements and MoUs between the two countries are expected to be signed,” said Marcovich, whose ancestors migrated to Peru from Croatia more than 100 years ago.
A seasoned diplomat and the Director General for Africa, Middle East and GCC in the Peruvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Marcovich was on a three-day official visit to Doha, leading a four-member delegation from different ministries in his country.
“We had some fruitful discussions with local (Qatari) authorities covering a number of areas. The two sides signed some mutually beneficial agreements,” added Marcovich. He disclosed that during the deliberations, issues such as energy, dissemination of news through official agencies, legal affairs and availability of visas for diplomatic passport holders figured prominently.
The Peruvian delegation held meetings with the CEO of Qatar Airways, Akbar al-Baker, and officials of Ministry of Energy and Industries, Supreme Education Council, Ministry of Municipal Affairs etc. The official said their earnest hope is that improved connectivity between the two nations would contribute substantially to strengthening the relations between the two countries in the coming years.
“In the last three years, there has been a phenomenal improvement in the relations between Peru and countries of the region. Besides Qatar, Peruvian embassies were opened in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia and a General Consulate and trade office was opened in Dubai,” said Markovich.
“Peru, like other Latin American nations, has realised the importance of building relations with the GCC states and the best way to achieve this is through the starting of diplomatic missions in the region,” he added while acknowledging Qatar’s growing bilateral relations with the South American countries in recent years. Qatar opened its embassy in Peru last year. The Peruvian official observed their country has identified two focal points — investments and trade — to building and strengthening relations with the GCC states. Peru has opened the doors for foreign investments.
During the meeting with the delegation, director of Peruvian Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism Alvaro Silva-Santisteban said their country has immense natural resources and large tracts of agricultural lands which could be leased for people of this region for their food security.
“Ours is a country with considerable levels of agricultural production. We are the largest producers of asparagus in the world. Peru also has substantial production of mangoes, evaporated milk and fish oils for exports,” he said, while highlighting the rich natural resources and minerals, including iron ore and silicate in their country.
Qatar’s requirements in its growing construction sector could be effectively met through imports from Peru in coming years, said Santisteban, who hoped their country would be able to supply large quantities of construction materials while Qatar is on an infrastructure building spree for 2022 Fifa World Cup.
The Peruvian delegation also pointed out their country has more than 20,000 Arab expatriates, mainly from Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Palestinian territories.
