European Union invites Peru's Ollanta Humala to visit Brussels in 2012

Head of the European Union Delegation in Peru, Hans Allden. Photo:ANDINA/Carlos Lezama

Peruvian President Ollanta Humala has been invited to visit Brussels, Belgium in the first quarter of 2012 to meet the highest authorities of the European Union (EU), the head of the EU delegation in Peru, Hans Allden said Sunday.

Allden said that the EU has proposed the Peruvian government to hold these meetings during the first days of February.

"We have a date for President Ollanta Humala's visit to Brussels scheduled for February 1-2. We are working with this target date. But it is a date which must be confirmed by the Peruvian government," he told Andina.

He stated that during the official visit, the Peruvian leader would meet with European Commission President Jose Manuel Durao Barroso and European Council President Herman Van Rompuy.

Humala will also hold talks with EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton as well as authorities of the European Parliament, a body that has been discussing the ratification of the trade agreement with Peru. (Andina)

Panama’s participation in Pacific Alliance being negotiated

Pacific Alliance Members

The Peruvian government is negotiating an agreement with Chile, Colombia and Mexico to form part of the Pacific Alliance and allow Panama to join it.

According to the president of Peru's Exporters Association (ADEX), Juan Varilias, the incorporation of Panama to the Alliance will allow greater freedom for the transit of Peruvian products in the countries that form part of the group.

During the last meeting of the Alliance, held in Merida, Mexico, the president of Panama, Ricardo Martinelli, expressed his wish that his country forms part of the group.

For the first half of 2012 it is expected that the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) signed between Peru and Panama comes into force, recalled Varilias.

ADEX President argues that the agreement will be beneficial to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) of the Peruvian fishing sector, among others.

"On Tuesday, Panama's Legislative Assembly unanimously approved the FTA, which will help strengthen bilateral trade ties," Varilias was quoted as saying by FIS.com.

He added: "Geographically, Panama is near Peru, we have the same language, I think both countries will benefit substantially," the agency Andina reported.

According to the data provided by ADEX Economic Studies Management, the FTA with Panama will allow the 93.1 per cent of total tariff lines to enter immediately or to do so in a maximum of five years during which there will be reduced tariffs.

In the fisheries sector, the most favoured products are sardines, trout and mackerel, among other resources.

Between January and October 2011, Peru sent products to the Panamanian market for USD 244.9 million, that is to say, 12 per cent more than in the same period of 2010.

Of that total, 69 per cent (USD 169.6 million) were traditional products, mainly oil products, and the remaining 31 per cent (USD 75.3 million) were non-traditional products.

St. Elias Mines doubles diamond drilling program at Tesoro to 20,000 metres

Canadian-based St. Elias Mines said Monday it has doubled the ongoing diamond drilling program at its Tesoro gold project in Peru to 20,000 metres.

In order to do this, the company said it is taking all necessary steps to mobilize a second diamond drill rig to the project - expected to come on site at the start of the new year.

Additional mechnical trenching on the both the Main Structural Corridor and the Parallel Structural Corridor is due to begin in January, Proactiveinvestors.com reported.

St. Elias said it is also in the process of hiring three more geologists for the project, with necessary project infrastructure being expanded to accomodate the plan.

The drilling program has been designed to test near-surface and deeper-seated geophysical anomalies identified by Titan 24 geophysical surveys, the company added.

The Tesoro gold project is 100 percent owned by the company with no underlying royalties, and covers roughly 6,974 hectares as part of the prolific 300 kilometre by 30 kilometre Nazca-Ocoña gold belt parallel to the Pacific coast of southwestern Peru.

While the veins in the belt tend to be narrow, the grade is significant and the mineralized structures typically extend along strike for several kilometres and to depths of up to 1,000 metres.

To date, the company has identified five mineralized zones with more than 50 quartz veins, having a total combined length of nine kilometres at Tesoro. Underground and development work has been carried out on three of these veins so far. (Andina)