MTC and CAF Assess Sustainable Urban Logistics Strategies in Peru

Joining forces With a view to implementing urban goods distribution strategies in Lima and other major cities of Peru, the Ministry of Transport and Communications (MTC) held the first Workshop on Sustainable and Safe Urban Logistics sponsored by CAF, which discussed the application of the CAF LOGUSS Program in Peru’s cities.

The event was kicked off by Deputy Minister of Transport Carlos Estremadoyro, who highlighted the importance of distribution of goods for national development.

“At the Ministry of Transport and Communications we are always analyzing the movement of passengers and cargo on all routes nationwide. And in order to solve the transport problem, important initiatives and measures have been designed that can be replicated in major cities,” the minister said.

In this connection, Estremadoyro highlighted the Transit Reordering Plan for access to the port of Callao, which was implemented last year. The plan has reduced cargo carriers’ time to enter the port and establishes the presence of Peru National Police officers, who guarantee the safety of their cargo.

“In this trial is a joint effort of the MTC, the Callao regional government, the Municipality of Callao and the Ministry of the Interior, in addition to carriers. We are now adding new alternatives that will allow us to organize cargo transfer not only in Callao, but in other ports of the country, and make access to logistics areas more organized and secure,” he added.

The conference was attended by Claudio Higa and Fausto Arroyo, representatives of CAF—development bank of Latin America—in Peru; MTC officials and executives of companies Kuehne + Nagel, Dinet, and Universidad del Pacífico.

Higa stressed the importance of the LOGUSS program for Latin American countries such as Peru, where 80% of the population lives in cities, which concentrate production and consumption. Thus, logistics and movement of goods is key to boosting productivity.

“Lima and Callao are the best example of how we need to combine these logistics efforts in terms of movement of people and cargo. We need to boost productivity, and working with sustainable and integrated urban logistics is pivotal to that end,” he said.

Participants also discussed the impacts of urban freight logistics and the need for a sustainable balance between mitigating environmental impacts and economic efficiency (productivity and jobs). Fausto Arroyo presented the content of the CAF LOGUSS Program, which proposes methodologies and management tools to the public and private sectors of cities in Latin America based on the analysis and synthesis of international best practices in the region and elsewhere. The strategy is based on comprehensive and orderly progress in five key areas: Institutions, planning and monitoring, regulation and control, logistics infrastructures, and collaborative and innovation-boosting policies. The methodology calls for the use of roadmaps that have been successfully developed in Guayaquil, Cali, Fortaleza and Rosario.

The presentation of TCM’s vision on Logistics in Peru was made by Director of Water Transport Policies and Standards Natalia Teruya. The event was adjourned by Fernando Cerna, Director General of Policies and Regulation in Multimodal Transport.

The activity took place on January 28, 2020 at the MTC headquarters, as part of the logistics development policy that the ministry has been promoting throughout the country.