Economy

Peru has been ranked the second best place to do business in Latin America in 2014, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Peru came in second among 14 Latin American nations, topped only by Chile in the Bloomberg survey released Tuesday. 

 

In the global ranking, Peru moved up to 37th from 50th the year earlier. Hong Kong again topped the list, thanks in part to the low cost of starting a business there.

 

It was followed by Canada, United States, Singapore, Australia, Germany, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Spain and Sweden. 

Peru's largest mall, Plaza Norte, is beginning a US$14 million expansion that will create spaces from 98 more stores.

Director of Plaza Norte Elka Popjordanova said in a press release that the expansion is in part due to the success the mall has seen in the last year. "We closed the year with S/. 1.5 billion in sales, which shows that the public trusts us, and that they feel satisfied with what they see and what they find in Plaza Norte," said Popjordanova.

 

Mining & Energy

Compania de Minas Buenaventura SA, Peru's biggest publicly traded precious metals mining company, expects gold output to remain steady this year compared with 2013, while silver production is forecast to rise 

Peru signed contracts with EnerSur and Samay I, an IC Power unit, for the companies to construct two 500MW natural gas/diesel-fired plants in the country's south as part of the Nodo Energ�tico del Sur project, according to the energy and mining ministry.

Gran Tierra Energy Inc., a company focused on oil exploration and production in South America, today announced the results of a qualified independent reserve evaluation of the company's Peru reserves by GLJ Petroleum Consultants Ltd. effective December 31, 2013.

Uncontacted indigenous groups living in the Peruvian Amazon are at risk for "massive deaths" if contacted by workers, admits controversial Camisea developer Pluspetrol.

Pluspetrol's Camisea gas project is set to expand into areas inhabited by uncontacted indigenous groups, many of whom have little immunity to common diseases. 

The Hague

Gastronomy

Tourism

he Arts Boutique Hotel B (Hotel B for short) is surrounded by elegant mansions that harken back to Lima's heyday in the early 20th century. The historic manor house was built in 1914, designed by the French architect Claude Sahut as a wealthy family's second residence. Every corner of the two-story mansion feels intimate and personal. It opened as a hotel in July after a two-year renovation. Most of the details date back to its earlier days. 

Machu Picchu stands apart in Peruvian history as the one Inca city that the advancing Spaniards never found as they captured and colonized the rest of the Empire. Brought to world attention in 1911 by Hiram Bingham through a dramatic series of articles in the newly popular National Geographic magazine, Machu Picchu is now considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World and unfathomable in its beauty. 

For the second year in a row, the Peru brand logo "Marca Peru" appeared in a massive billboard in New York's Time Square, promoting the latest and famous tourist spot destinations in the Andean nation. 

Society

The Pontificia Universidad Cat�lica del Per� has conducted a study investigating what kinds of values Lime�os have internalized since childhood, and how those values determine their actions. That is to say, how Lime�os are, and not just how they wish they were. 

The PUCP study, authored by Jorge Yamamoto and Sebastian Wendorff, took two years to complete and was conducted through interviews and psychological tests with a representative sample of the Lima population. One of the main finds was the identification of four marked values in the residents of the capital- and those values can go two ways according to the case, either positively or negatively. 

Culture

Peruvian opera tenor Juan Diego Florez has been honored with the World Economic Forum's Crystal Award in his capacity as founder of the Sinfon�a por el Per� foundation. 

Peruvian cultural authorities are set to welcome 47 artifacts back into their nation of origin after having been illegally removed from the country.

Peru's Ministry of Culture will receive artifacts recovered from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and other nations. 

Miscellaneous

Last summer, I went to Peru courtesy of the Stanford archaeology department, and it was extraordinary. As Colin Powell once said, "It is important for American students to learn other languages, experience foreign cultures and develop a broad understanding of global issues."

I took high school Spanish, but it's safe to say I had no meaningful relationships based in the Spanish language until the summer of 2013. During this time I was an indentured servant in Chavin de Huantar, Peru. We worked 40 to 50 hours a week. 

The most iconic symbol of soccer, the FIFA World Cup trophy, arrives Wednesday in Peru as part of its promotional world tour prior to next June's tournament in Brazil.