The British-Peruvian Chamber of Commerce was founded on 10th November 1988 by a group of British businessmen including Mr. Maximilian Frydman, Mr. Trevor Stepheson and Mr. Basil Fisk and Mr. Alan Duncan MBE who was elected the first President of the Chamber. The objective of the Chamber was to strengthen and promote commercial relations between Peru and the UK. From the beginning the Chamber has always benefited from the unconditional support of the British Ambassadors and Heads of UK Trade and Investment in Peru, who have always assumed the roles of Honorary President and Honorary Director respectively. This always cordial and cooperative relation was strengthened further in 2002 when the British Embassy in Peru invited the Chamber to move from their office of many years in Magdalena to become part of a new British Centre in Torre Parque Mar alongside the Embassy and the British Council. The Chamber however sees its role as working collaboratively with all the various organisations in Peru and the UK which contribute to increasing bilateral trade between Peru and the UK and so we pride ourselves on our relationships with governmental and non governmental institutions such as Promperu, Proinversion, and Adex amongst others. The Chamber has also particularly since the end of the 1990´s strengthened its relationship with other bilateral Chambers both in Peru and abroad. In 1998 we became part of the Association of Binational Chambers in Peru and in 2003 we became members of the Association of British Chambers of Commerce in Latin America. In 2007, we played an active role in the formation of the Association of the Chambers of Commerce of the European Union in Peru, otherwise known as “Eurocamaras”. Our contact with these various organisations allows us to hold joint networking events as well as share information and ideas on commercial, cultural and social issues to benefit our members. Over the years, we have developed many different types of events and activities with the aim of increasing the commercial and cultural relationship between Peru and the UK. At the beginning we held mainly Human Resource events but now organise a full programme of events ranging from sports tournaments to lunches with Ministers to Social Responsibility and commercial events to promote the UK as a possible market for Peruvian products and to promote trade fairs in the UK. As it has developed the Chamber has communicated with our members and contacts through our events but also through various other media. In 1995 we launched our corporate magazine ‘Opportunities’ which then, as now included articles about commerce, Social Responsibility and investment as well as on legal and human resources themes and in which we have been privileged to interview many Ministers and the First Lady. In 1998 we launched our website which today is bilingual and includes sections such as an events calendar, frequent asked commercial questions and many others. In 2007 we launched our first electronic bulletin in Spanish focusing totally on commerce and in 2008 a monthly bulletin in Spanish exclusively for members. The Chamber is also firmly committed to the practise of Corporate Social Responsibility. As a result in 2001 we assumed the official Peruvian representation of the Scottish NGO Project Trust. On their behalf for the last seven years the Chamber has sent groups of British and Dutch volunteers to work in orphanages in the provinces of Peru. In 2007 we also assumed the representation of the British Consultancy Charitable Trust – BCCT, an organisation dedicated to providing British professional volunteers to developing countries to assist in their commercial and technical growth. Over the following years we hope to continue providing a wide range of services to our more than 100 members but with a particular focus on the promotion of social responsibility and on supporting Peruvian exporters seeking to reach the competitive UK market.