Fifteen years ago, an English friend of mine defined Peru as “ten seconds a year on the BBC.” Fortunately, this has changed and our country is beginning to play a more significant economic and cultural role on the world scene. Evidence of this can be found in the most prestigious international newspapers and magazines such as Forbes, The Times, and The Economist among others, which write about and analyze Peru as an attractive destination for investment and cultural tourism. What seemed like isolated bright spots, represented by Sofia Mulanovich, Juan Diego Flores, a Peruvian cement plant in the United States and Peruvian gastronomy, Claudia Llosa and an investment grade have become a systematic phenomenon in diverse areas such as literature, economy, law, technological innovation and cinema.

An apt anecdote to illustrate this point occured at a seminar I attended in March at Georgetown, where one of the panel members was Madeline Albright. I had the opportunity to ask Mrs. Albright her opinion on Jeffrey Sach’s initiative to set aside 0.7% of the GDP of rich countries to aid developing countries under a sort of Marshall Plan. The former Secretary of State, noting that I was Peruvian, said that she thought that my fellow countryman, Hernando de Soto, had a better idea about the “legal empowerment of the poor” and that she was working with the Peruvian economist on this very issue through her foundation for democracy.

Some time ago, a critical mass of Peruvians began to demonstrate that we can be world class citizens. These individuals continue to consolidate the vital intangible assets that every society in the first world aspires to have: high self-esteem and the psychological fortitude to think big. As a result of the IBD Congress in 2004 and the successful ALCUE and APEC summits held last year, Peru is on the world radar and all things Peruvian are beginning to globalize. “Made in Peru” and Peruvian intellectual capital are slowly but surely becoming synonyms for quality and originality. Pressure from the global market has increased, jump-starting creativity and notably improving our businesses so that they can compete without fear or complexes. Great examples of this are Bembos and the Banco de Crédito.

President Garcia made a wise decision to directly and personally promote investment in our country and has taken every opportunity to project an image of a modern, winning and dependable Peru.

All Peruvians must promote investment and seize every opportunity to say that our country is one of the best places in the world to live, create wealth based on social responsibility and experience unequalled multi-culturality. We should follow the example of businessman Oswaldo Sandoval who, at the inauguration of the Lima Cargo City logistical complex several days ago, paraphrased Sam Walton, saying: “After analyzing the crisis, I have chosen not to participate in it.”