Arbe Abogados, based in Lima, has added a new PPP, contracts and regulatory partner to its practice. Pablo Cueto Saco joins the firm from Laub & Quijandria.
Cueto's practice is focused on public contracting and concessions of public infrastructure, and for the past five years he has focused on advising investors in the energy sector. He expressed that Arbe’s financial and corporate offerings aligned with his goals for expanding his own practice.
“A year ago I analysed deeply the situation of infrastructure in Peru, and I decided I needed to expand my practice to a wider spectrum of sectors,” he explained.
“Peru is compelled to invest as much as it can in all kind of infrastructure within the next year. The question now is how to attract investors and finance the infrastructure. The Peruvian government is the main promotor of public infrastructure, by contracting and financing it directly and by celebrating public private associations,” he said.
Right now, Peru is in the midst of a presidential election. Since no candidate received the 50% of votes required to outright win the election, the two leading candidates Keiko Fujimori (who came in first) and Pedro Pablo Kuczynski (in second) are facing a runoff on June 5. The candidates have both expressed plans to invest in infrastructure if elected.
“Both [PPP and direct financings] are required and for this reason I would say the challenge for the next government is to clearly define priorities in terms of projects and efficiently carry out the actions needed to execute them, without political distractions,” Cueto said.