AREQUIPA (Peru), Sept 29 (NNN-ANDINA) — Before hundreds of mining investors from all over the world gathered at Perumin 35 Mining Convention in Arequipa, Economy-Finance Minister Kurt Burneo presented three main axis to promote this strategic sector as part of the Peru Boost Plan.
“Peruvian mining is highly competitive, but it can be even more so through better public-private articulation. Our objective is to give impetus to the progress of mining projects in their different development stages,” Burneo explained.
He explained that there is currently a portfolio of 43 mining projects worth US$53.168 billion. They are in various stages —the vast majority of them in feasibility or pre-feasibility stage.
“Thus, we require measures that facilitate and promote the development of these investments which are essential not only for the country, but also for the communities surrounding the influence area,” he added.
The first axis has to do with the optimization of procedures and regulatory improvements, in addition to allocating more resources to opinion agencies such as the National Service for Natural Areas Protected by the State (Sernanp), the National Water Authority (ANA), and the National Environmental Certification Service for Sustainable Investments (Senace).
This axis also seeks to unify the criteria between Senace and the Ministry of Energy-Mines (Minem) regarding the expansion of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) program of activities.
The second axis considers incentives for investment in mining and unblocking of projects. Therefore, extending Laws No. 27623 and No. 27624 that return the General Sales Tax and the Municipal Promotion Tax for mining and hydrocarbon exploration will be proposed, as well as extending the term of validity of this tax benefit from three to five years.
Similarly, this axis establishes that the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) —through the Specialized Investment Monitoring Team (EESI) and the Executive Boards— will continue joining and articulating efforts among public sector entities to remove bottlenecks, as well as to enhance the investment environment and provide greater competitiveness.
The third axis points to the closing of social and productive gaps in mining areas. Thus, it will promote the expansion and simplification of the Works for Taxes (OxI) mechanism, attention to a prioritized list of public investment projects based in influence areas, as well as the strengthening of productive programs such as Agroideas, competitive funding, and technified irrigation, among others.
Burneo pointed out that mining production will help sustain GDP growth in the coming years.
According to projections, the increase in copper production will contribute an average of 0.7 percentage points to GDP growth between 2023 and 2024.
The challenge is to create a favorable environment for investments, with a social and sustainable outlook, the MEF head added.
“We can only achieve this if we work together; therefore, within the framework of the Peru Boost Plan, we are taking measures in order to regain confidence and accelerate investments,” he emphasized. — NNN-ANDINA
