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January 2012

Basic Data

Diplomatic relations:
Established in June 1873.
Japanese and ethnic Japanese:
Number of Japanese residing in Peru: 2,622 (October 2007)
Population of Japanese descent: 90,000 (estimated)
Trade with Japan (2007):
Exports: $2,236.8 million (copper, fish meal, silver, zinc)
Imports: $548.5 million (automobile, auto parts, tires, steel)
Direct investment from Japan:
At the end of 2004 there were 112 direct investments in Peru totaling 785 million U.S. dollars. In 2007, 35 Japanese companies have set up operations in Peru.
Japan's economic cooperation (cumulative total as of 2007):
List of Exchange of Notes
Loans: 364,317 million yen
Grants: 58,446 million yen
Technical cooperation: 45,063 million yen

Visits by eminent persons

Peru to Japan:
Year Name
2006: Minister of Production David Lemor
Minister of Foreign Affairs Jose Antonio Garcia Belaunde
2007: Minister of Production Rafael Ray
2008: President Alan Garcia as a guest of Official Working Visit, accompanied by Minister of Foreign Affairs Jose Antonio Garcia Belaunde, Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism Mercedes Araoz, Minister of Agriculture Ismael Benavides, Minister of Energy and Mines Juan Valdivia and Minister of Housing and Sanitation Enrique Cornejo)
2009: Minister of Foreign Affairs Jose Antonio Garcia Belaunde
Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism Mercedes Araoz
Japan to Peru:
Year Name
2001: Minister of Education Atsuko Toyama (special envoy)
2006: Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Akiko Yamanaka (special envoy)
2008: Senior Vice Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Yoshitaka Shindo
Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Osamu Uno
Parliamentary Secretary for Economy, Trade and Industry Yoshifumi Matsumura
Minister for Foreign Affairs Hirofumi Nakasone
Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Toshihiro Nikai
Prime Minister Taro Aso

Cultural Grant (cumulative total fiscal 1975-2008)

(1) Cultural Grant Aid: 30 projects, 1,469.5 million yen
(2) Grant Assistance for Cultural Grassroots Projects: 7 projects, 29.6 million yen

Japan-Peru Business Committee (CEPEJA, Consejo Empresarial Japones-Peruano)

(The 7th meeting took place in March 2008 and the 8th in February 2009, both in Tokyo.)
(1) Establishment: 1993
(2) Japanese chairman: Shimpei Miyamura, Director, Senior Advisor, Mitsui Mining & Smelting Co., Ltd.
       Peruvian chairman: Luis G. Vega, Director, Vega Enterprise Group

Recent trends

(1) 110th commemorative year of Japanese emigration to Peru in 2009
　On April 3, 1899, some nine years before emigration to Brazil began, a group of 790 Japanese became the first to emigrate to Peru. To mark that event, in 1989 Peru designated April 3 the Celebration of the Peruvian-Japanese Friendship Day.
　In 1999, we celebrated centennial commemorative ceremony in Peru, and this year we will celebrate 110th anniversary.
　Thanks to the hard work and sincerity of Japanese-Peruvians, which forms the third largest Japanese descendent community overseas, the feeling of the Peruvians toward Japan has been continuously favorable. In an opinion poll conducted in May 2007, in a question on what country they most respect, Japan placed second (13%) after the United States (27%) and in a poll published in May 2004, the majority of the respondents (71%) answered that theywere favorable to Japan.
(2) Active bilateral relation
　After President Garcia’s assumption of office, bilateral relations have been largely activated. For example, the Japan-Peru Business Committee (CEPEJA) resumed its activities in 2008 after a lapse of 9 years, when President Garcia visited Japan for the first time in 9 years as President of Peru. Visits by eminent persons of both countries have been also reactivated recently with the Japanese active participation in a series of Peru APEC ministerial-level meetings through 2008, culminated with the official bilateral visit of Prime Minister Aso to Peru in November 2008, when Japan-Peru Investment treaty was signed between the two leaders.
　In February 2009, the Peru Exhibition was held in Japan with the presence of Peruvian Foreign Minister Garcia Belaunde as well as Foreign Trade and Tourism Minister Araoz. On the occasion of the bilateral ministerial meeting held this time, both agreed to hold a preparatory meeting for Japan-Peru Economic Partnership Agreement in late March.

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Press Secretary's Press Conference on Peru

Year Month Date
2006 April 7
March 7
2005 November 10, 11
2002 July 19
2001 June 26
March 16
2000 April 21
1999 May 21
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