BRASILIA: Brazil is encouraging Peruvians to focus on the growth that will be spurred by a 5,300-kilometre railway from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
The construction of the proposed “Tren Bioceánico” is being pushed by the Brazilian and Peruvian government, with strong support from China, which sees it as a long-term investment in access to South American resources.
“Trade between Brazil and Peru will be boosted. Our interest is in this [route] to becoming a competitive logistical corridor and transport for non-traditional value-added products,” Brazil’s Ambassador to Peru, Carlos Alfredo Lazary Teixeira Teixeira, told El Peruano, Peru’s official newspaper.
Mr Teixeira said the railway is “the best ideal and the best formula,” aimed at guaranteeing sustainable growth in bilateral trade.
According to El Peruano, exchange between Peru and Brazil is currently worth around US$ 3.6 billion.
“Our target is US$ 10 billion, as President Rousseff expressed when she visited Lima in 2013,” Mr Texeira said.
Given its complexity, the project feasibility study will be ready within a one-year period.
The Interoceanic Railway would be the third main corridor connecting Peru and Brazil.
At present there are two axes: the Interoceanic Highway and another connecting Peru’s north with Manaus.
Meanwhile, civil society groups have already voiced concern at the proposal.
“It is way too big to pass unnoticed, and will be tremendously controversial on both environmental and social fronts,” Paulina Garzon, director of the China-Latin America Sustainable Investment Initiative, told.
