History of the Canada-Peru Chamber of Commerce
A bit of our history...
By: Javier Montero Checa First President of the Canada Peru Chamber of Commerce Like many good initiatives in Peru, it all began with a lunch in 1995. I had returned from Canada after having worked in the reinsurance sector for seven years. I was convinced that the Canadian presence in Peru, namely, its important investments and its participation in cultural activities, should become institutionalized and reflected in a chamber of commerce that would accompany, support, and why not, promote these eff orts.
So I decided to ask my friend Alfredo Arosemena to organize the aforementioned lunch and to invite the Canadian Ambassador at the time, the late Tony Vincent. The Ambassador thought it was an excellent idea and suggested baptizing the new organization as the Peruvian Canadian Business Council, which we established and immediately registered as an association. Years later, in 2005, we changed the name to the Peruvian Canadian Chamber of Commerce. Luis Carlos Rodrigo Prado, current Chamber President, Drago Kisic, Gord Sanford and Lucho Adrianzén served on the first board of directors, along with other key professionals who promoted commercial and cultural ties between Peru and Canada.
Our fi rst event was a conference on mining in Peru, whose keynote speaker was Alberto Benavides de la Quintana, one of the country’s leading mining promoters. (...)
The Chamber of Commerce has been designated by mining sector officials as the association responsible for coordinating the presence of the Peruvian delegation at the international convention of Prospectors and Development Associations of Canada, PDAC, which organizes the world’s most important mining conference every year in Toronto.
The achievements of the Chamber of Commerce would not have been possible without the ongoing, selfl ess collaboration of its directors and with the proactive support of its general managers. I would like to wish our dear friend Cynthia Hardman good luck at her new job and much success to Lorena Borgo, her successor as general manager.
