Speaker > Biography

Mercedes Araoz

Minister of Foreign Trade & Tourism
Republic of Perú

Ms. Mercedes Araoz was appointed as Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism on July 28, 2006. In this position she is in charge of the bilateral and multilateral trade negotiation agenda. In this role she has fostered free trade negotiations with the US, EU, EFTA, China, Canada, Chile, México, and WTO, among others. She is also responsible for trade facilitation policies, export development and other trade regulations.  As head of the tourism public sector, she is in charge of defining and approving tourism policies, executing tourism public investments and promoting private sector participation. In this position, she promoted successfully Machu Picchu’s nomination as one of the New 7 Wonders.

She is also President of the Tourism and Exporting Promotion Agency (PROMPERU), President of the Inter-Ministerial Council for Implementation and Economic Competitiveness (CIIACE), Vice-President of the National Competitiveness Council (PERU COMPITE) and Director of the Private Promotion Agency (PROINVERSION).

She concluded doctoral studies and obtained the Master’s Degree in Economics by the University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida.  She studied at Universidad del Pacifico, Lima, and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics.

She is specialized in issues linked to negotiations and international trade policies, competition policies within expanded markets, politics for competitiveness and investment promotion.  She has carried out research, consulting and publications on these issues for multilateral, governmental and entrepreneurial organizations.

She is Associate Professor of International Economy at the Universidad del Pacífico and member of the Universidad del Pacífico Research Center (CIUP), Lima, Peru.  She is also professor at the Diplomat Academy of Peru.  Among the courses she teaches are Negotiations and International Trade Policies, International Trade Theory, Microeconomics, etc.

In 2005 she was the Executive Director of the National Council for Competitiveness, where she designed, conducted and prepared the Peruvian National Competitiveness Plan, approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.  Previously she was an advisor for the Vice Ministry of Foreign Trade at MINCETUR and likewise a member of the Peruvian negotiation team for the USA/Peru FTA as Chief Negotiator for Peru in the Trade Capacity Building Group, as well as Coordinator for the participation and consultation of the private sector with the Ministry.

She was Chairperson of the negotiation group on competition policies in the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas (FTAA) and formerly Chairperson of the Trade Remedies Group in that forum.  She was also Vicepresident of the Anti Dumping and Countervailing Measures Commission at the Peruvian National Agency for Competition and Intellectual Property (INDECOPI).

She was the Peruvian Coordinator on Competition Policies before APEC, PERUPEC in 1998 and member of the task force on Competition Principles for APEC, PEC/TPF in 1998 as well as Executive Coordinator of the Andean Project for Competitiveness, carried out by the Universidad del Pacífico jointly with Harvard University and the Andean Development Fund (CAF), from July 2000 to December 2001.