Monthly Snapshots - February 2021: Peru Edition

COVID-19: Entire population is expected to be immunized by 2021, with 3,449 Peruvians vaccinated so far.

The President of the Republic, Francisco Sagasti, indicated that until Tuesday, February 9, 3,449 Peruvians have received the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine (COVID-19). In addition, he stressed that Peru aims to vaccinate all citizens before the end of 2021.

The head of state delivered a speech at the Military Hospital, moments before he was immunized against the disease. Likewise, he highlighted the first part of the distribution of doses of vaccine Sinopharm to different regions of the country.

The nationwide vaccination campaign began this Tuesday in the main hospitals in Lima and Callao. Last Sunday the first batch of 300,000 doses of vaccines developed by Sinopharm arrived in Peru. 700,000 additional doses are expected to arrive this Sunday. It is hoped that with the rapid rollout of vaccinations, the country will be able to rebound back sooner rather than later.

Peru's environmental opportunities in 2021.

The Minister of the Environment, Gabriel Quijandria has defined four key axes in his environmental agenda: climate change with an emphasis on adaptation; conservation and sustainable use of resources; the management of solid waste, mainly single-use plastic, and the promotion of the circular economy. The new administration will have the opportunity to bring Peru into the Escazu agreement, which will improve access to information, participation and justice on environmental issues, as well as establish mechanisms for the protection of threatened environmental defenders.

By 2021, Peru should achieve the protection of 10% of its marine area according to the commitment adopted with the Convention on Biological Diversity, also known as Aichi Targets. This commitment will result in the creation of more marine areas of ecological and biological importance.

IMF improves the forecast for Peru, country expected to be one of the regional leaders in terms of economic recovery in 2021

After the worst economic recession in decades, Latin America is destined to return. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Peru would experience a 9% increase in economic activity by 2021.

In 2021, GDP is forecast to recover strongly thanks to a combination of domestic demand and an improving external environment, which will support key commodity exports. In addition, the impact of the increase in public spending this year should underpin the rebound. Efforts, according to the International Monetary Fund, should be aimed at improving the efficiency of vaccination campaigns to contain the pandemic, which would set the conditions for faster recovery. This growth is expected to continue into 2022, where moderate growth of 5.2% is expected. With respect to Latin America as a whole, the region is most likely to return to pre-pandemic levels only in 2023, while GDP per capita will return to the same levels in 2025.

Technological consumption trends with a view to 2021.

The use of artificial intelligence, the expansion of 5G, and “friendly technology” are some of the consumer trends in the market that will mark 2021. Saúl López Silva, an expert in the future for WGSN, explained that whilst technologies such as 5G and artificial intelligence (AI) will continue to spread to mobile devices and laptops, they will also be implemented in other industries. For instance, companies such as John Deere have already adopted AI to run its tractors such as the John Deere 8RX, which is self-driving and has 'computer vision' which allows the machine to learn as it goes. In his opinion, the covid-19 pandemic has also had a tremendous impact on technology for its application in social distancing, health surveillance, hygiene in the bathroom, sterilizing solutions, as well as self-cleaning innovations. Over the next year, these innovations will continue to grow 5G technology will also benefit subscription entertainment services which will allow content on mobile phones to load faster. This will make mobile phones more responsive and content creation all the more important. Moreover, with the pandemic keeping many people at home - the implementation of 5G cannot come at a better time.