Peru saw a decline in foreign direct investments in 2013 compared to the previous year, but the Andean country still remains an attractive market for investors, according to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, Eclac.
Eclac, a United Nations agency better known as Cepal in Latin America, said that Peru received $10.2 billion in FDI in 2013, down 17 percent from the previous year, state news agency Andina reported.
The agency’s executive secretary, Alicia Barcena, said that the figure was still the second highest on record for Peru and that the country was the fourth biggest recipient of foreign investment in the region.
In the past five years, foreign investment in Peru has increased 47 percent from $6.9 billion to $10.2 billion last year. Peru has recently overtaken Argentina in terms of FDI flows. It is fourth in the region, behind Brazil, Chile and Colombia.
“In the last few years, Peru has received unprecedented volumes of FDI, thanks mainly to large re-investments from the profits of mining companies,” Barcena said.
Peru is a major global producer of copper, gold, silver and zinc, among other minerals. Mining companies have poured in billions of dollars into the country to develop mineral-rich deposits.
