As Peru prepares to celebrate the 2021 bicentenary of its independence, the government has set itself one major goal: to make Peru a full member of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), according to the Embassy of Peru Seoul.

In connection with such Peru Government's goal, Peru Amb. Daul Matute-Mejia expressed thanks for the support from the Government of Korea through his country's Independence 197th Anniversary speech, held at the Grand Hyatt Seoul Regency Room on July 26th evening.

As regarding South Korea's interest in becoming an associate member among Pacific Alliance, Matute-Mejia said Peru supports this initiative, adding the addition of new associate members has the potential to enhance trading relationships further, both regionally and globally. The South Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy said earlier this year that Seoul hopes to become an associate member of the Pacific Alliance by 2019, according to comments by the Ministry. South Korea already has free trade agreements (FTAs) with all of the Pacific Alliance’s full members, except for Mexico.

From the perspective of Inter-Korean relations on the peninsula, Peru Government sees hope's signs in the recent reconciliation atmosphere of the two Koreas for the peace & stability in the region, touched upon Matute-Mejia. Peru Foreign Ministry has said last year it would “carry out all diplomatic efforts aimed at denuclearizing the North Korean peninsula.”, expelling North Korea’s ambassador over the country’s refusal to heed the world’s “constant calls” to end its nuclear program.

By the invitation of the NDNnews(www.ndnnews.co.kr) & its affiliate organization Korea Culture Ambassador Friendship Association, Peru Amb. Matute-Mejia visited Incheon Global Campus located in Songdo, Incheon to see at firsthand how the campus is being operated with advanced & top-notch curriculums compared with US or british Universities, with other over 40 envoys such as Mexico Amb. Bruno Figueroa, Iran Amb. Hassan Taherian etc.

Touching upon that it is also important to increase cooperation in health and education. Peru considers that Korea educational system is very advanced, the Ambassador said, adding some Peruvian students are studying in Korea but we would like to increase the number of under graduated and post graduate levels, in order to work jointly with Korean specialist.

It is noteworthy that Peru's Independence contributed to consolidating political independence from Central & South American countries and Peru is nowadays emerging as a stronghold country among the Pacific Alliance countries which are formed by Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru, according to experts.

With regard to Peruvian exports, Peru Amb. said: "Korea is one of the most important markets for Peruvian exports, especially raw materials. We want to promote further nontraditional products such as coffee, cocoa, mango, organic banana, grapes and hydro biological products and its derivatives, which are already available in the Korean Market. In the near future, the Embassy of Peru expects to complete procedures to bring avocados and blueberries to Korea."