Peru, 2008

I should like to begin by greeting you, Sir,

congratulating you on your election to the presidency

of the General Assembly at its sixty-third session. We

are certain that your experience will enable us to have

fruitful and constructive exchanges on the urgent

challenges currently facing humanity. Thus, we

reaffirm our commitment to contributing to the

achievement of positive results during this session.

Fighting poverty and creating opportunities to

promote social inclusion are priorities of the

Government of President Alan García Pérez, and we

are therefore pleased that the General Assembly has

rightly chosen the theme of poverty — a challenge

requiring a global and comprehensive response — as

the central focus of discussion for the present session.

Peru has been affected by the negative

repercussions of the increase in food and fuel prices,

which are felt most intensely by the poorest

individuals. In my country, we are working responsibly

to find appropriate responses that can sustainably meet

the challenge of enhancing food security. At the same

time, we are adopting urgent measures to assist those

most affected by rising food prices. The direct

relationship between poverty and rising food prices

should lead us to develop new and more ambitious

formulas for international cooperation that are

commensurate with the magnitude of the problem and

take into account all aspects of poverty in a

comprehensive manner.

Against that backdrop, I wish to highlight a new

threat to the possibilities of development: a grave

international financial crisis whose scale is still

unknown. At its roots lies an unfortunate and

irresponsible combination of regulatory loopholes, real

estate inflation, reckless mortgages and financial

leverages without a sound basis in the real economy.

This could lead the world into a crisis of confidence

and undermine the considerable progress that

developing regions have made in their fight against

poverty. Given those phenomena, we await decisive

responses and actions by the developed countries to

support the financial system and avert the great risks of

this crisis.

In the case of Peru, I can say that this turbulence

will not cause us to abandon our ongoing policies of

investing, creating productive jobs, increasing tax

revenues and promoting growth. Peru has been very

successfully implementing a programme of

comprehensive, inclusive and decentralized

development based on two pillars: an economic policy

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with the clear objectives of growth and job creation,

taking advantage of the country’s multifaceted

potential; and a social policy that honours the

commitment to reduce poverty, increase social

inclusion and promote equality of opportunity.

That approach has brought into our economy not

only financial resources, but also advanced

technologies and management capacities that improve

and stimulate the competitiveness of our production,

thus increasing and diversifying exportation. As a

result of that approach, the creation of direct and

indirect employment has increased in an unprecedented

way in many areas of the country and thousands of

small and medium entrepreneurs have been

incorporated into the market in an economy that boosts

initiative and creative capacity.

Based on those premises, Peru has made steady

progress in recent years, with the growth rate reaching

9.1 per cent in 2007 and forecast to reach over 9 per

cent this year. There is, further, a major increase in the

domestic component, which is a driving force in the

economy.

But to those positive macroeconomic figures we

should add the important results in the management of

the major components of the social model, such as the

expanding social, education and health services as well

as basic assistance to the poorest. Through the social

policy, the Peruvian Government has achieved, in only

two years, a remarkable reduction of more than 5 per

cent in poverty and almost 3 per cent in extreme

poverty. Infant mortality has also fallen by 51.6 per

cent and illiteracy levels have also been reduced by

5.7 per cent. We have also established an objective of

reducing chronic child malnutrition by 5 per cent by

2011. We are seeking to enhance the management and

increase the impact of the social expenditures of the

State.

Those achievements ensure that in the case of

Peru the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) will

be met prior to the 2015 deadline in areas such as

poverty reduction, nutrition, literacy, health and

education, among others. We also see that the role of

international cooperation was fundamental in our being

able to bring to remote areas social, education and

production projects that, in a sustainable manner, raise

the standard of living of members of rural

communities. The combination of the national effort

for inclusion and international cooperation should be

maintained in order to achieve, as soon as possible, the

full involvement of the Peruvian social fabric in

national development.

In recognition of all of those advances, of the

economic stability of the country and of the prevailing

legal security, three important international risk

indicators have given Peru its investment grade.

Consistent with this positive evolution of the economic

perception of my country, foreign investment increased

by more than 23 per cent in 2007 and is expected to

further increase this year.

Our growth is also based on expanding the

markets, which we have done through regional and

bilateral free trade agreements entered into with the

United States, Chile, Thailand, Canada and Singapore.

We hope to conclude further agreements soon with

South Korea and China. We are conducting trade

negotiations with the European Union and the Andean

countries, a process that we hope will be satisfactorily

concluded in 2009. Furthermore, we are ready to

engage in negotiations with as many countries as

possible, to enable us to boost trade.

There is a broad consensus regarding the shared

responsibility of countries of origin and receiving

countries in dealing with the phenomenon of migration.

Its causes have a global dimension, and so should its

treatment. It is a tool of development, both in

originating and receiving countries and in the migrant

communities themselves. We should look at the central

role of migration in terms of creating opportunities for

generating wealth and progress, for diversity and for

building more tolerant multicultural spaces.

The responsible and constructive handling of

international migration should begin with the practical

use of international instruments for the protection of

migrants. Therefore, the United Nations, together with

States, must redouble its efforts to implement measures

that will make it possible to ensure respect for the

human rights of migrants, migrant workers and their

families.

For this reason, in Peru we have been promoting

and continue to promote the handling of this matter

both in the United Nations and in other forums with a

view to establishing mechanisms for exchange of

information and specialized knowledge, undertaking

standing consultations and forging closer cooperation

between the Global Forum for Migration and

Development and the United Nations. We must make

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civil society aware of the benefits and contributions of

migration and continue with dialogue and coordination

in multilateral forums, without stopping the progress

towards agreements.

The concern about poverty and economic growth

requires an examination of the sustainability of

development ideas and the most relevant

environmental priorities. We need to deal with security

and the rational use of water for agriculture and for

personal use, deforestation control, soil degradation

and environmental pollution, among others. We are

working on these issues with the most advanced

regulations, a product of our own experience. We have

to approach these matters organically. In the case of

Peru, we established the Ministry for the Environment

a few months ago. We insist that national development

programmes take account of the quality of life and the

sustainability of land-use models and of natural

resources.

Global warming requires us to work intensively

with the entire international community to reduce

emissions, which are the fundamental reason for the

rise in global temperatures and their already visible

consequences. Peru is witnessing a rapid retreat of its

tropical glaciers, which is threatening the water-supply

regime in the most populated and heavily agricultural

areas. We want to confirm our conviction on the

pressing importance of advancing from the platform

adopted in Bali last year with a view to consolidating

in Copenhagen in 2009 a comprehensive agreement for

the reduction of polluting emissions, in order to avoid

the worst natural-catastrophe scenarios for a not-so-

distant future.

The current international scene presents a very

complicated structure, characterized by contradictory

trends of globalization and fragmentation. Indeed, on

the one hand, we have global integration of production

processes, trade, financial flows and technological

revolution, as well as the dissemination of values such

as democracy and human rights. But, simultaneously,

there is fragmentation because of increasing social

inequality, poverty, exclusion, proliferation of civil

wars, genocide, terrorism, transnational crime,

degradation of the environment and the flouting of

international law as a means for the peaceful settlement

disputes.

Those contradictory trends between globalization

and fragmentation jeopardize the governance of States,

the governance of the international system and

collective security itself. Peru, true to its traditional

constructive approach, considers that the international

order should be based on peace, cooperation,

multilateralism and, of course, international law. Thus

we are of the view that at the present time we need to

reaffirm support for the primordial role played by the

United Nations in dealing with the major subjects on

the international agenda, specifically those connected

with international peace and security, the observance of

democratic order, sustainable development, the

promotion and protection of human rights, and

environmental protection.

That approach guided Peruvian participation on

the Security Council and has led it to reaffirm its

commitment to active participation in peacekeeping

operations in the context of respect for the principles of

the sovereignty of States and non-intervention in the

domestic affairs of other countries. Currently, my

country’s armed forces are in Haiti, the Sudan, the

Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia and Côte

d’Ivoire. Peru has a contingent in the United Nations

Stabilization Mission in Haiti and is coordinator of the

Group of Friends of Haiti, which is responsible for

helping the Security Council in monitoring this case.

Moreover, Peru is an active participant in

numerous multilateral mechanisms. This year, we were

honoured to host the fifth Summit between the

European Union and Latin American and Caribbean

heads of State and Government. Next November, we

will once again be honoured when we host leaders

from the economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic

Cooperation Forum at their sixteenth summit.

As part of our involvement on the international

stage, I should also like to point to our contribution to

the establishment of the Latin American-Pacific Arc,

which aims at harnessing synergies among

participating countries in economic and commercial

fields, especially as regards promoting investments in

the areas of infrastructure and facilitating business, and

in promoting cooperation to improve the

competitiveness of our economies. All of that is geared

towards ensuring a more pronounced and effective

presence for our region in the Asia-Pacific region.

In conclusion, I would like to reiterate Peru’s

commitment to continue to support initiatives aimed at

promoting an environment conducive to economic and

social development, the full validity of democracy, the

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strengthening of the rule of law and the promotion and

protection of human rights throughout the world. That

should take place against an international backdrop

where conflicts are brought under control, security

prevails and there is unequivocal adherence to the

norms of international law and the Charter of the

United Nations. Those are the central priority goals of

our foreign policy and constitute the guidelines that

will continue to orient Peru’s participation on the

international stage, and especially in this body.