Obama to visit Lima, Peru on Last International Trip as President

Within days, Peru will host world leaders for the 2016 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC) CEO Summit in Lima. This is the last stop on the President’s last trip abroad.  As of today, 21 countries participate in these bi-lateral talks, including most of the largest economies in the world, such as the U.S., China, Russia, Japan, and Korea.

What is then the importance of the APEC Peru Summit and why is it held in Lima?

Some APEC facts

APEC is a forum established in in 1989 to enable countries with close economic ties around the Pacific  to better coordinate interests. APEC’s aim is to facilitate trade and promote economic growth and integration between participating countries. The member-economies of Apec account for approximately 40 percent of the world’s population, an estimated 55 percent of the world’s GDP, and about 44 percent of global trade.

The Importance of the APEC Peru Summit

Because it gathers together some of the largest economies with smaller ones such as Mexico’s, Vietnam’s or Peru’s, it balances negotiation power among nations and provides huge opportunities for trade and investment favorable to the smaller economies. Additionally, the summit itself promotes tourism to Peru in two ways. First, the summit takes thousands of foreign businessmen, officials, and journals to Peru. Also, it promotes Peru directly by showcasing some of Peru’s wonders though its advertising channels. For instance, if you visit the summit’s website, you will be able to access some great touristic information about Peru. The summit is thus held in Lima to help promote Peru’s wonders.

Dates and venue

Though the central meetings start on November 17 this year, many of the finance ministers from participating countries started meeting in October. Though the welcome reception will be held at “MALI” (Lima Art Museum), the central venue will be the “Gran Teatro Nacional” (Grand National Theater), both in Lima.

Museo de Arte de Lima – MALI.

Gran Teatro Nacional, in Lima, Peru. Photo Credits: Gran Teatro Nacional

You can be there as well

Both MALI and the Grand National Theater are great places to visit in Lima. MALI offers displays of Peruvian ancient and modern art year around for a few bucks, while The Grand National Theater usually presents great cultural shows for reasonable prices as well. For instance, I got tickets to front row seats for a symphony orchestra playing Beethoven for only $15. And volunteers who have visited the theater have always thanked us for recommending it. Fortunately, you don’t need to own a multi-billion company, be the president of a country, or be part of the APEC Peru Summit to visits these sites. While you do your service program in Peru you can visit these and many other sites those guys will never get to see.

Art Exhibit at the Lima Art Museum.

Peruvian dances show at the Gran Teatro Nacional. Photo Credits: Gran Teatro Nacional