Peru’s government should create a ministry of science and technology if it wants to have sustainable development, according to the president of the National Center for Strategic Planning (Ceplan), Agustin Haya de la Torre.
“A ministry of this type would help put science and technology in first place for the agenda for an integral development of the country,” state news agency Andina reported Haya de la Torre as saying.
Currently, Peru invests about 0.15 percent of its GDP in science and the development of new technologies, while Latin American countries on average invest 1 percent of their GDP.
According to Andina, Chile invests five times more than Peru in science and technology, while Mexico and Brazil invest 20 and 40 times more, respectively. Brazil is Latin America’s largest investor in science and technology.
“History tells us that all of the developed countries benefited from science and technology,” Haya de la Torre said. “That is to say, they were able to convert science in technology and it is in the nation’s productivity.”
Modesto Montoya Zavaleta, the coordinator of the International Network of Researchers at the Peruvian Institute of Nuclear Energy (IPEN) and an advisor to Ceplan, said they will send President Alan Garcia a request for a bill in Congress that would create a science and technology ministry.
