Investing in Peru: Interview with KPMG

The auditing and professional services firm KPMG began operating in Peru in 1972. In this interview, Tim Treharne, Managing Director of KPMG's Latin America operations, talks about infrastructure projects and the investment climate in Peru.

By Silvia Mendoza Martínez, El Comercio

Adapted from Spanish by Diana Schwalb


http://www.livinginperu.com/business-1606-general-investing-perus-infrastructure-an-interview-with-kpmg

How much does Peru pay for corruption?

Peru has lost 3 to 4 percent of GDP annually because of graft and corrupt — since 1820 — according to a recent book. Does it have to be this way? Columnist Leon Trahtemberg weighs in..

http://www.livinginperu.com/blogs/features/1415

Getting health care in Peru

You may have moved to Peru and life is great. But what happened to your health care plan? This week Rodney Dodig, pictured here, tells us about his experience getting a yearly health plan at Clinica Good Hope for $285. Since then, Rodney has visited the clinic and has been impressed with the service — in English — and the up-to-date equipment. Read more about this health care option in Lima. (Note: This is not an endorsement for Clinica Good Hope, but rather one person's experience.)


Are you trying to quit smoking? Back in February Carsten Korch's father was visiting Lima and decided to give laser therapy a try. Freedom Terapias Láser is a U.S. franchise with a branch in Lima. After four sessions of treatment, Mr. Korch Sr. is back in Denmark and still abstaining from smoking (although still suffering from withdrawal). Read more about this new procedure to quit smoking.

http://www.livinginperu.com/blogs/features/1318

Trying to find a job in Peru, finding long hours and secret salaries

This week Victoria Lugovskaya writes about her job search difficulties as a new expat in Peru. It's quite different from the ways things are done back in Moscow. Lugovskaya writes about curious CV submission conventions, little transparency for salary offers and even some confusion by managers about the numbers of hour in a work week. “Listen, the official work time is 48 hours a week,” explained the director. “Maximum?” “Minimum. It’s according to Peruvian law.” Readers, both Peruvians and foreigners, will surely empathize with some of what Victoria says. But she also leaves on a positive note about the Peruvian work ethic: “What I like about Peruvians’ attitude to work is their sense of commitment and global understanding that work is important – to earn a living and to help each other.”

http://www.livinginperu.com/features-1308-art-culture-lifestyle-long-hours-secret-salaries-peru-jobs-from-an-expat-perspective

"I'm sick and tired of being considered as the worst team" says Peru's soccer player Juan Vargas

Peruvian soccer player Juan Vargas said today “This has been a very bad year for Peru. There is no inferiority complex here, but it is better that the qualifiers comes finally to an end. All this talking is damaging for the national team. It is better to be quiet and just play these two remaining games (against Argentine and Bolivia) and get back to our clubs", said "El Loco" (“The Insane”) at the press conference at Videna.


"The truth is that we are not well rated anywhere. We are the worst, the losers in South America. I am sick and tired of being treated like this", added Vargas.

Juan Manuel said also that Peruvian footballers need to be more confident if they want to succeed in their careers.

He finally said he does not care if the River Plate Stadium is full for Saturday match "because I like to play like this at visit".

Have other topics you'd like to see in our news section? If you or someone you know would like to contribute a news article to Living in Peru, whether it's translated or based on a personal investigation, send it to editor@livinginperu.com.

LAN Surprises Tourists with $178.50 Fee

Imagine that you are about to take the vacation of a lifetime. Despite the demands of a busy work schedule and the difficulties of the current economic recession, you've managed to somehow scrape together both the time and the money necessary to travel to Peru and visit the greatest of the world's wonders: Machu Picchu. You're on a tight budget, but you've made it to Peru and you're standing at the Jorge Chavez International airport waiting to board your flight to Cusco when the LAN representative says, "I'm sorry, but you have to pay another $178.50 or we're not letting you get on the plane."


What do you do? You aren't exactly in a position to argue. Chances are your boss back in America or Europe or wherever you're from expects you back on the office on Monday morning, and if you don't catch this flight to Cusco now, you're never going to see the miraculous lost city.

Unfortunately, this is exactly what's been happening to tourists as result of a new LAN policy that went into effect for tickets purchased after September 1st.

Confused? Well, let me back up.

You see, for a long time, everybody's known that LAN has a much cheaper ticket available from Lima to Cusco for residents of Peru. To verify this, simply go to the LAN website and do a search for a flight. Here is a screen shot when you do a search for Lima-Cusco on September 30th as a resident of the USA click on: http://www.livinginperu.com/features-891-art-culture-lifestyle-lan-surprises-tourists-with-178-50-fee

ELTeCS_PERU] Limenos Deserve Better Public Transportation - Peru This Week, 112th edition

Limenos Deserve Better Public Transportation

Yesterday’s strike among the drivers of about 80,000 buses and taxis turned Lima into a Paradise when all the poorly maintained, horrible looking, and rusted out vehicles that typically prowl the streets were barred entry. Not since the APEC meetings back in November has Lima been so nice to get around and I hope that the government and the police are going to enforce their laws, write bus drivers a ticket if they break them, and confiscate their vehicles if they fail to pay.

As our minister of Transportation and Communication Enrique Cornejo yesterday so correctly said, “if you don’t break the law, you don’t have anything to worry about.”

The Municipality of Lima should concentrate on creating a new public transportation plan for Lima and to offer safe passage for all. It's time they finished the Metro that Alan Garcia started back in 1980’s. They should also consider purchasing 5.000 new buses to replace all the old and unsafe vehicles which are currently being allowed to drive around all over Lima.

The rumor is that many bus companies are owned by members of congress and police officers, which perhaps makes the above suggestion an impossible mission. But wouldn’t it be nice if we all could travel around Lima like people do in other great cities around the world, in comfort and without fear of faulty vehicles or overcrowding? Starting August 14, citizens of Lemvig in Denmark will be able to take the bus for free, as the municipality figured out that there was no money to be made from public transportation!

I hope that those using the buses will one day go on strike and demand that the police all over Peru enforce the existing traffic laws to secure passengers a safe and comfortable journey to and from work or wherever they wish to go within this great country. After all, it's the passengers who ultimately dictate how public transportation in Lima should be, and the good people of this great city deserve to be treated MUCH better.