16/11/2008 (Bernama), Kuala Lumpur - Peru expects to lure investments worth US$6 billion from Asia-Pacific economies despite tough global economic conditions after it hosts the region's biggest gathering of leaders, ministers and top-ranking businessmen this week at its capital in Lima.

It is also seeking to attract investments from Malaysia especially in value-added downstream oil palm activities, Peruvian Ambassador to Malaysia, Alejandro Gordillo Fernandez, told Bernama in an interview here, Sunday.

Fernandez said Peruvian President Allan Garcia Perez aims to impress that his country is a top-notch investment centre at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec)'s 16th summit and during official and private sector meetings.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Tun Razak will lead the Malaysian delegation to the Apec Leaders' Meeting on Nov 22 -23 while International Trade and Industry Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin will attend the trade and economics ministerial meeting prior to that.

Incidentally, Peru became a member of Apec in 1998 when Malaysia hosted the forum's summit here.

Set up in 1989, Apec is a forum where its 21 members meet to facilitate economic growth, cooperation, trade and investment, but it operates on a non-binding basis with decisions taken on a voluntary basis.

Apec accounts for about 55 percent of the world's gross domestic product and 49 percent of global trade.

Fernandez said firms investing in Peru would not only automatically become a 100 percent Peruvian company, but could also gain access to the larger Andean community trade grouping which has a consumer base of 130 million people.

Members include Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, but its linkage to Mercosur, the Latin American free trade area makes its potentially attractive with long-term efforts towards South American regional economic integration.

Top of the Apec calendar to woo investments would be the chief executive officers' summit from Nov 20-23 to be held during what is surely the largest ever gathering of world leaders, ministers and captains of industry in Lima.

Besides banking on a wide mineral base such as copper, gold, silver lead and tin, Peru has bright prospects for petroleum firms to exploit crude oil reserves both onshore and offshore, Fernandez said.

Foreign investors could also look for opportunities in the construction, manufacturing, trade and services sectors which have been the most buoyant in the domestic market, he said.

Out of its 10 main trading partners last year, six are Apec member economies.

Last year, 19 percent or RM5.2 billion worth of Peruvian exports went to the United States while other major markets included China, Japan, Canada, Chile, and South Korea.

He said that Peru was an open economy with the Andean community having an almost common market whereby any product from Peru would be able to penetrate member countries without having to pay taxes and vice-versa.

Turning to commercial linkages with Malaysia, he said two-way trade was very small, amounting to US$90 million with exports from Peru mainly comprising minerals.

"But this is decreasing while Malaysia mainly exports electrical and electronic (E&E ) appliances, components and textiles and these keep increasing," he said.

Peru used to sell tin to Malaysia until 2000.

"We hope to rectify the trade imbalance which now is heavily in Kuala Lumpur's favour," he said.

As for palm oil, Fernandez said the jungles in Peru with its tropical conditions are ideal for the commodity, but easy accessibility is an obstacle in transporting goods to the coast given the mountain range in the middle.

As for crude oil, he said some 500 companies were exploring for oil in Peru.

Historicaly, Peru was the first Latin America country to export oil and was doing so until the late 80's.

"Currently, we are producing but it is not enough for our domestic consumption due to inadequate investments in crude oil production as companies concentrated more on gas," he said.

"Nevertheless, there are a lot of crude oil reserves waiting to be tapped, both onshore and offshore," he said.

Fernandez said President Perez as host would lead discussions on current economic issues particularly on ways to overcome the current global economic crisis at the Apec summit whose theme is "A New Commitment to the Development of the Asia Pacific."

Sydney hosted last year's Apec summit while the summit bext year will he held in Singapore.