Oscar Vera assured that the mining industry has fully revived: “The protests have changed their agenda”

Minister of Energy and Mines, Oscar Vera Gargurevich, summed up first 100 days its management is at the forefront of its sector.

In this regard, the head of the Ministry of Energy and Mines (Minam) indicated that already reactivated “the entire mining industry”, thereby overcoming the paralysis that arose due to protests against the government and Congress.

“It was difficult to negotiate with all these groups that blocked roads and affected production, especially mining companies, which is the main activity in our country (…) and allows the development of infrastructure. Mining generates about 8% GDP and it is necessary,” he explained.

“Now we can say quite calmly that the entire mining industry has already been reactivated, that the protests have changed their agenda. Now we are talking to all authorities at the national level (…) who help us formulate the implementation of projects and the prioritization of needs,” he stressed.

Minister Vera emphasized that all mining enterprises have returned to their level of production and that there will be more investment in this sector this year.

“We can say that all mining enterprises across the country are already active and at their level of production. Some mining companies are announcing additional investments (…) and it is clear that we are restoring confidence around the world. This will lead to increased investment,” he said.

Educate the population

With regard to areas where protests against mining have taken place in recent months, the chapter Minam He indicated that his leadership is focused on mining-related “communities” and that the government is “interested in protecting the environment.”

“There are problems that arise because there may have been aspects that were not covered. Our work is aimed directly at communities that are in close proximity to important mining companies. Technology allows us to develop mining projects and coexist with other environmental activities (…) The government is interested in protecting the environment, nature and residents,” he stressed.

In this sense, he considered it appropriate to “educate” the population in areas where mining protests took place, so that they would be aware of the benefits of investing in the industry.

“We are convinced that we must make every effort to reach out to the residents of the areas where claims have been made, first of all, teaching themshowing them that it is technically feasible and that it will not harm the region, but vice versa,” he said.

“We believe that technically those projects that were suspended at some point due to political issues should be resumed,” he added.

However, he pointed out that such projects as Southern Gas Pipeline They will resume this year.

“When Southern pipeline, With our technical team, we have seen that it is possible to accomplish. We know how much it costs, which is important, but we also know how badly the Peruvians need this resource,” he said.

“This year we should start construction of the gas pipeline. For this to be profitable, we must develop petrochemicals (…), which will generate income that will make this project profitable (…) We will guarantee that this year we will have the green light, and the implementation of this project will definitely go on plan,” he said.