Spending Christmas away from home in Northwest Arizona is hard sometimes, but on the other hand, it is summer in Lima and the days are longer & the weather generally nice. Today, we’ll spend some time at the Plaza de Armas to see this years Christmas decorations, and let the pictures do most of the talking…
Christmas 2014
Ahhh, 2014 is quickly coming to an end, and once again I wonder what happened to the year. It went by so fast.
Between watching world & financial events with open eyes & shuttling back and forth to Peru, I managed to accomplish a personal first, successfully importing over 3,600 pounds of specialty grade Peruvian coffee from the Chanchamayo region.
Now that really isn’t that much in the coffee world where the goal is to fill containers for shipping, each weighing 42,000 pounds, but for me it was quite an accomplishment to wade through the maze of customs regulations, not only in the US, but in Peru as well. It took quite a bit of time, and the jury is still out on how profitable it will be (if at all.)
It’s a little (actually a lot) of fear to overcome before moving ahead into the unknown. For years I had been thinking that it would be an interesting business, that is providing high quality imported stuff to what I imagined to be eager buyers in the US. The problem was always that the sense of being generally clueless kept me at bay. I always thought about doing my taxes when I thought of Customs. Up there with getting a root canal.
Continue reading Holiday Reads: Some Great Links, Year in Review
From The Latin Times:
The 2014 World Travel Awards has awarded Peru as the “Best Culinary Destination in South America” for the third consecutive year. The country, which has become a famous tourist destination for Machu Picchu, beat other Latin American competitors, including: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela.
With emerging markets showing signs of stress after the end of QE, will Peru also see foreign money leaving the economy? With around 50% of all loans denominated in dollars, a sudden exit could leave Peru vulnerable.
Continue reading Will the Hot Money Leave Peru?
Medical tourism continues to grow every year, and is expected to continue expanding as deductibles rise & as more and more companies self insure to save costs. Some employers are covering all travel costs (including expenses for spouses) as an incentive to encourage employees to consider medical travel.
Here are some recent articles regarding medical tourism that may be of interest:
Continue reading Medical Tourism News Roundup 12/12/14
Peru has surpassed Columbia to be the top cocaine producer in the world, yet the traffic continues, once again showing the folly of the failed “War on Drugs.”
From The Peruvian Times:
Continue reading Peru Tops Coca Eradication Goal, But Traffic is Booming
This week, Christine Lagarde of the IMF is visiting Peru & is meeting with the Peruvian President and economic leaders. She spoke this week:
IMFs Lagarde Expects Growth to Continue
As commodity prices & the Peruvian Sol have fallen, the business community and Peruvian government are looking for ways to support continued growth in the economy. Once the fastest growing economy in Latin America, Peru has seen growth rates falling rapidly this year.
Continue reading Peruvian Economy Facing Stiff Headwinds
Peru Hosts 2014 Climate Change Conference
Monday December 1, 2014
Today begins the 2014 UN Climate change summit being held in Lima, Peru. Over 190 Nations will be in attendance with a goal of reaching an historic new agreement to reduce carbon emissions which will be signed in 2015. Negotiations have been ongoing for over 20 years, and recently US President Barack Obama & and Chinas’ leadership agreed to reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
Notable attendees will be Leonardo DiCaprio and Al Gore, as well as delegations from many nations. The meetings will take place between today and December 12th. This will be the 20th session of the UN Climate Change Conference.
Strutting & pontificating are nice, and so good in front of the camera, but what we need is real action & not celebrity endorsements from heavy polluters whose lifestyles contribute more to global warming than most of us.
Continue reading Peru Hosts Highly Polluting Climate Change Conference
Peru has recently taken the laudable step of banning GMO foods for ten years. A 10-year ban on genetically modified foods in Peru came into effect this week, state news agency Andina reported. From The Peruvian Times: Continue reading Peru Bans GMO Food for 10 Years
