Peru's government said it will accelerate an auction of a concession to operate the southern port of Pisco after it was damaged last week by the country's worst earthquake in more than 30 years.
The Aug 15 quake, which killed at least 513 and left 80,000 homeless on the southern coast, damaged 30 per cent of the port, David Lemor, director of the state agency for promoting private investment, Proinversion, told reporters in Lima. Pisco ships liquid natural gas, metals and agricultural produce.
Peru, Latin America's seventh-largest economy, is counting on US$1 billion in investments in its 12 ports to boost exports by a third to US$25 billion this year and to double exports within five years. The government last year auctioned a pier concession at Lima's port of Callao to DP World, based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
'We're going to place priority on projects in the Pisco area, such as the port, a highway to the highlands and a gas duct,' Mr Lemor said. 'It's important that the port is competitive so that exporters have lower costs.' The quake happened in one of the world's most seismically active regions, where the Nazca and South American tectonic plates clash. The US Geological Survey reported a magnitude 5.2 temblor in the area at 4.32pm New York time Tuesday.
The effects of last week's quake will slow Peru's economic growth to about 7.6 per cent this year from earlier forecasts of 8 per cent, President Alan Garcia said. Half of the country's population of 27 million lives on US$1 a day.
The Peruvian government began a 300 million soles (S$144 million) reconstruction programme on Tuesday that aims to employ 8,000 townspeople to rebuild roads, houses, churches and hospitals destroyed by last week's 8.0 quake, Mr Garcia said.
'Pisco has enormous potential for agro-industry and needs a commercial port and airport,' Mr Garcia told reporters there. 'We're going to make the area better than it was before.' Peru is the world's largest exporter of asparagus and paprika, most of which is grown along the southern coast.
The US today approved US$500,000 in additional aid, taking the total to date to US$1.5 million, Ky Luu, director of the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance at USAid, said at a State Department briefing in Washington.
The World Bank Tuesday pledged US$400,000 to help finance reconstruction, while Ecuador and Italy sent planes carrying clothing, medicine, food and bottled water. Donor nations and relief agencies have pledged a total of US$40 million.
Peru has suffered three destructive earthquakes in the last decade. Last week's quake was the world's most powerful since a magnitude-8.1 temblor struck off the Solomon Islands in April, triggering a tsunami that killed 54 people. The US Geological Survey said last week's quake carried about as much energy as about 790 nuclear bombs.
The Aug 15 quake, which killed at least 513 and left 80,000 homeless on the southern coast, damaged 30 per cent of the port, David Lemor, director of the state agency for promoting private investment, Proinversion, told reporters in Lima. Pisco ships liquid natural gas, metals and agricultural produce.
Peru, Latin America's seventh-largest economy, is counting on US$1 billion in investments in its 12 ports to boost exports by a third to US$25 billion this year and to double exports within five years. The government last year auctioned a pier concession at Lima's port of Callao to DP World, based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
'We're going to place priority on projects in the Pisco area, such as the port, a highway to the highlands and a gas duct,' Mr Lemor said. 'It's important that the port is competitive so that exporters have lower costs.' The quake happened in one of the world's most seismically active regions, where the Nazca and South American tectonic plates clash. The US Geological Survey reported a magnitude 5.2 temblor in the area at 4.32pm New York time Tuesday.
The effects of last week's quake will slow Peru's economic growth to about 7.6 per cent this year from earlier forecasts of 8 per cent, President Alan Garcia said. Half of the country's population of 27 million lives on US$1 a day.
The Peruvian government began a 300 million soles (S$144 million) reconstruction programme on Tuesday that aims to employ 8,000 townspeople to rebuild roads, houses, churches and hospitals destroyed by last week's 8.0 quake, Mr Garcia said.
'Pisco has enormous potential for agro-industry and needs a commercial port and airport,' Mr Garcia told reporters there. 'We're going to make the area better than it was before.' Peru is the world's largest exporter of asparagus and paprika, most of which is grown along the southern coast.
The US today approved US$500,000 in additional aid, taking the total to date to US$1.5 million, Ky Luu, director of the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance at USAid, said at a State Department briefing in Washington.
The World Bank Tuesday pledged US$400,000 to help finance reconstruction, while Ecuador and Italy sent planes carrying clothing, medicine, food and bottled water. Donor nations and relief agencies have pledged a total of US$40 million.
Peru has suffered three destructive earthquakes in the last decade. Last week's quake was the world's most powerful since a magnitude-8.1 temblor struck off the Solomon Islands in April, triggering a tsunami that killed 54 people. The US Geological Survey said last week's quake carried about as much energy as about 790 nuclear bombs.