United Cacao Ltd SEZC (LON:CHOC) Chief Executive Officer Dennis Melka caught up with DirectorsTalk for an exclusive interview to discuss the infrastructure developments in the Peruvian Amazon and the upcoming Presidential elections in Peru
Q1: Now Dennis, you’ve just come back from Peru, can you give us a brief on the infrastructure developments in the Peruvian Amazon?
A1: Yes, absolutely, thanks again for having me on line. Some very exciting things happening over the last couple of years which are really coming to fruition now in the Amazonian basin, first is really an incredible, historic I think, expansion of the waterway network, you’re seeing the government complete a large scale dredging programme over the next 6-12 months between Iquitos and Pucallpa on the Ucayali river and installing navigational aids. This is going to allow very large ocean-going type vessels to actually go from Iquitos all the way down to Pucallpa so this is really transformational for the area, it really extends the Amazonian inhabitable waterway from the Atlantic to Manaus to Iquitos all the way down to Pucallpa. So I think that’s going to have some exciting developments over the next few years as that system is used more and more. The other development there in Pucallpa is the mineral export facility which is again very incredible when you think about it, phosphate and dolomite from the eastern side of the Andes, instead of going over the mountains and into the Pacific for export, it’s actually going to go through the Amazonian area to the export terminal in Pucallpa and then out through this newly established waterway system out into Brazil and the Atlantic. So it’s really an incredible achievement for Peru to really open up new export terminal for their mineral resources and again, this doesn’t really impact United Cacao in terms of our business directly but it really shows that there’s some big infrastructure projects that are coming to fruition over the next few years in the area where we operate.
With respect to roads there’s been, continually for the last few governments, a focus on developing roads in the area. There’s a new road which is now being planned, it’s in technical stage, from Pucallpa up towards Iquitos, it doesn’t go all the way, it stops in a city called Contamana, but again a real pioneering project that’s going to bring development and jobs and opportunities to the people in that area. So again, doesn’t directly impact United Cacao but it just shows how much effort the government’s putting in to get economic development going in this area and to reduce poverty. The third one is continued expansion of roads in other parts in the Peruvian Amazon towards the base of the Andes linking up with Cusco eventually so this whole area has a lot of development, a quite exciting place to be in over the next few years.
Q2: Talking about the government there, what can you tell us about the up and coming presidential elections?
A2: Peru, as you know, is an investment-great country, very stable, has had democratic elections, a multi-party system, regular changes of government so what you’re seeing in this election is more of the same. You have various candidates that are running, looks like in the lead now is Keiko Fujimori followed by Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, either would be wonderful candidates to lead the country so I think Peru continues in its path forward with respect to both presidential candidates supporting strong economic developments, strong growth, strong job creation. So I think Peru is really a shining star in Latin America when you look at some of the other problems in the neighbouring countries so really proves again a wonderful place to be and we’re pleased with how the elections are proceeding and we’ll know on April 10th. Any candidate that emerges from the current leaders I think is an exciting choice and good for the country.
