The growth of Exports of non -traditional products not only responds to the quality of the goods and the thrust of the companies behind them, but also to the State’s policy in matters of agreements, regulation and accompaniment to the private sector.
Within these policies, Peru’s commercial offices abroad (OCEX) have had a key role. Rafael del Campo, first vice president of the Association of Exporters (ADEX), explained that these offices allow a state representative in markets with potential to boost Peruvian exports.
“The commercial office has been fundamental, especially for small and medium enterprises, which many times do not have the resources to take a plane and open offices in the countries they want to sell. They are the most benefited,” he said.
Despite their relevance, not all OCEX have an economic boss or advisor. Of the 30 existing offices, 19 have regular counselors, while the remaining 11 have been commissioned to directors of other places, often without a defined criterion. There are cases in which an OCEX is attended by a counselor who is several hours away and that, in addition, he must deal with a totally different market.
The controversy
In May of this year, Promperú He summoned a public tender for merits to cover 6 vacancies of economic counselors, although in reality there are 11 the OCEX without holder, three of them in the United States, a market to which to give priority attention.
After successive stages of the contest, only 5 candidates were selected who, after more than a month of having been publicly declared as winners of the contest, have not yet been assigned to places at destination. No one explains what is happening.
Result: The 11 OCEX will continue without boss, missing a second contest, announced by the head of MINCETUR DESILÚ LEÓN three weeks ago, to fill the six places that will not be covered with the five winners.
The controversial thing is that in that contest the former economic-commercial councilor was disqualified in Shanghai, Vladimir Koceha, who held the position for nine and a half years in two periods (between 2008-2011 and 2013-2019). In an act signed only by Francisco Pegorari, technical secretary of Promperú and member of the Evaluation Committee, it is argued that Kocerha was disqualified because the position of commercial counselor who held for six years “does not qualify as a position of head, managerial or directive” nature, “required for the contest.
That is, Koceha was a commercial advisor, the highest position in those offices, had a staff in charge, the State hired him for years for that position, and now that he has the experience, Promperú tells him no, because at the discretion of the entity he was never boss, manager or director. So why are bosses for a position that, according to their own logic, is not a boss?
To complete the panorama, in Promperú there are also internal disputes: the general manager, Lesly Shica, was recently ceased, along with four other officials with headquarters.
“It seems that, about ten years to this part, Promperú has lost the compass,” Koceha said.
The funny thing is that this problem seems not to matter to anyone. Promperú did not respond to our interview call and the unions that are also part of the evaluation committee, only Adex attended to our application; Others only said: “We are not going to talk.”
Fact
A similar problem of lack of leadership in commercial offices was presented when they were managed by the Foreign Ministry. At that time, the situation was even more complicated, because the diplomats who assumed as counselors lacked the expertise and the necessary time for the function.
Receive your Peru21 by email or by WhatsApp. Subscribe to our enriched digital newspaper. Take advantage of discounts.
Recommended video
