The value of approved public investment projects (PIP) in Peru hit a record-breaking 25.89 billion soles (US$ 9.28 billion) at May 15, 2014, the country's Economy and Finance Ministry (MEF) has said. 

Formal employment in private, urban companies with ten or more workers rose by 1.7% from March 2013- March 2014, Peru's Labor and Employment Promotion Ministry (MTPE) reported Wednesday. 

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Peru's industrial sector hit an annualized 2.9 percent growth in January-March from the previous quarter, the National Society of Industries' (SNI) President Luis Salazar has announced. 

Senior investment officials from Peru have visited the North West for the first time to drum-up interest in export and investment opportunities in  the South American country. Javier Illescas, an economist and executive director of ProInversion, Peru's private investment promotion agency, said there are "many, many opportunities" for North West businesses in not only transport infrastructure, but in waste management, energy and sanitation. 

The Peruvian Embassy in China and the Beijing People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries hosted on Monday a lecture themed "Grape Wine and Pisco history of Peru" aimed at introducting the country's flagship product in the Chinese market.

Nearly 100 audiences attended the forum, including Gonzalo Gutierrez, ambassador of Peru to China and Tian Yan, vice president of the Beijing People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries.  

Peru is expected to become the world's fourth biggest gold producing country and to regain its standing as the world's second largest silver producer by 2017, the Andean nation's Energy and Mines Ministry has said. 

A new mine being developed by Peru's Buenaventura would start producing up to 300,000 ounces of gold per year in 2016, Chief Executive Officer Roque Benavides said on Wednesday.

The Tambomayo gold field in Peru's southern region of Arequipa will cost $200 million to build, Benavides added.

Peru won't always have the growth potential that it shows today. We should be concerned that in 15 years, the demographic dividend- that is, the number of people of working age compared with the dependent population- will begin to shrink, which means that there are a number of key reforms in the mining industry that cannot be put off.

"Peru, demographically, has its best years ahead of it. But it's only 15 years, so we can't lose even a single day," said economist Pedro Pablo Kuczynski at the Gold and Silver Symposium.

The Peruvian government plans an annual increase in the education budget by US$ 500 million starting 2015, a figure which represents 0.25 percent of the current country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Prime Minister Rene Cornejo has said. 

Lima was host to an Experimento workshop for teachers and representatives from educational institutions in mid-may. A total of 65 participants were either trained or took part in expert talks under the leadership of Dieter Arnold, who works as a consultant for Siemens Stiftung.

Local production of Korean Aerospace Industries (KAI) KT-1 Woong-Bee turboprop training aircraft has commenced in Peru, it was announced on 21 May.

Production by the Maintenance Service (SEMAN) of the Peruvian Air Force - a state-owned aerospace maintenance and repair operation - follows the signing in November 2012 of a contract to buy 20 KT-1 units that was valued at USD208.8 million.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is considering visiting Peru within an forthcoming five-nation tour of South America, a government source said on Wednesday.

The head of State will be flocking to Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago next July with the aim of securing support for Japan's bid next year to win a seat on the United Nation's (UN) Security Council as a nonpermanent member. 

On Tuesday, the United States Department of Homeland Security announced that it will work with the Peruvian government to bring the country into its Visa Waiver Program.

Harold Forsyth, Peru's ambassador to the United States, called the announcement "the birth of a process," which will take a while to see completion and began "a year ago." 

Wine lovers, start your corkscrews: the Alta Gama Winefest has returned!

This year's edition of Winefest is the fifth go-round for the luxury wine event. According to El Comercio, one of Winefest's most important goals is to spread information about high-quality wine in Peru.

Peru's export and tourism promotion board (PromPeru) will head a delegation of ten leading enterprises from the country's gastronomic sector on an official trade mission in Ecuador, which is due to take place late in May. 

Peru's soccer star Jefferson Farfan has been ranked among the top 20 best players from across top five leagues in Europe, according to WhoScored, the largest detailed football statistics website. 

A tiny member of Peru's Murui tribe can't get formal identity documents because his name contains a letter not commonly used in the Latin alphabet.

Ruben Medina has a one-year-old son. However, his son has not yet been registered officially with the government, a process which would allow him access to public services and national identity documents. It's not that Medina doesn't want to register his son, but that he can't- his son's name contains a letter that doesn't appear in the national registry's alphabet. 

A Peruvian politician has announced he is gay -- a first in one of Latin America's most conservative countries.

He is Carlos Bruce, a 57-year-old member of congress and former minister and also one of the main drivers of debate on civil unions for same-sex couples in Peru.