LIMA, PERU. October 21, 2005—
Over 200 Peruvian business and government leaders attended the “Doing Business in 2005: Creating Jobs” seminar this morning. The event, organized by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Confederación Nacional de Instituciones Empresariales Privadas (National Confederation of Private Enterprise Institutions or CONFIEP) was opened by Minister of Economy and Finance Fernando Zevala.
Following the opening, IFC Director for Latin America and the Caribbean Atul Mehta discussed IFC’s private sector development work in the region, and Anita Bhata, General Manager of IFC’s Technical Assistance Facility for Latin America and the Caribbean, spoke on IFC’s technical assistance and advisory services work, including implementation of the Doing Business agenda at the municipal level.
World Bank Investment Climate Manager and Doing Business author, Simeon Djankov provided the keynote address, highlighting key findings from the Doing Business in 2006 report. While the global results from Doing Business in 2006 are generally positive, those for Latin America are somewhat mixed. Three quarters of countries in the region reformed in at least one of 10 areas tracked by Doing Business, with Jamaica, Brazil, Ecuador, and El Salvador leading reforms. Peru performed above the regional average in several areas, including time to register a property and time needed to export. For example, it takes 24 days to export in Peru, but 34 in Colombia and 39 in Brazil. However, much work remains to be done, as many obstacles such as complicated and slow bureaucracy, rigid and expensive labor regulation and lengthy procedures to import goods remain.
A panel discussion followed Dr. Djankov’s presentation and included insights from the Minister of Foreign Commerce and Tourism Alfredro Ferrero, ex-Minister of Labor Fernando Villarán, and President of the Market Access Comission of INDECOPI (National Institute for the Protection of Competitiveness and Intellectual Property).
World Bank Resident Representative John Newman then spoke on the World Bank’s role in Peru and the region, and Prime Minister Pedro Pablo Kuczynski provided the closing address.
In bringing together Peruvian business and government leaders, leading analysts, and IFC, the seminar provided a valuable opportunity for increasing awareness of the importance of business regulation to the investment climate and disseminating the results of Doing Business 2006.
“Doing Business is not a panacea but rather provides simple benchmarking for countries and highlights specific areas where a country can do explicit and practical work to improve its business climate,” noted Atul Mehta, IFC Director for Latin America and the Caribbean.
ABOUT IFC
The International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, promotes sustainable private sector investment in developing and transition countries, helping to reduce poverty and improve people’s lives. IFC finances private sector investments, mobilizes capital in the international financial markets, helps clients improve social and environmental sustainability, and provides technical assistance and advice to governments and businesses. Its 178 member countries provide its share capital and collectively determine its policies.
From its founding in 1956 through FY05, IFC has committed more than $49 billion of its own funds and arranged $24 billion in syndications for 3,319 companies in 140 developing countries. IFC’s worldwide committed portfolio as of FY05 was $19.3 billion for its own account and $5.3 billion held for participants in loan syndications. For more information, visit www.ifc.org.
The IFC Technical Assistance Facility for Latin America and the Caribbean (IFC Plus) is a multilateral initiative backed by core IFC funds and program-specific funds from various donors (including Canada, Netherlands, Norway, and Switzerland). The facility's work program is focused on improving the business environment, enhancing local benefits from IFC investments, and broadening access to finance for and strengthening the competitiveness of small and medium enterprises. Based in Lima, the facility is operating in six countries (Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Peru) and is exploring opportunities in other countries of the region. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org/lac/ifcplus
.
