Peru's new Minister of Production, Juan Carlos Requejo, poses next to the country's President, Keiko Fujimori.
Photo: Produce.
This week, coinciding with Peru's Independence Day on July 28, Keiko Fujimori was sworn in as President of Peru. Immediately afterwards, she administered the oath of office to her new cabinet, in which Juan Carlos Requejo was chosen to head the Ministry of Production (Produce).
A lawyer from the University of Piura, with a master's degree in Business Law from the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (PUCP) and a graduate of the Senior Management Program at the University of Piura, the new head of Produce also has a solid track record in public management and extensive experience in leading State institutions.
This experience includes responsibilities within the Ministry of Production itself, where most recently he served as Vice Minister of MSEs and Industry, and previously as Vice Minister of Labor and Vice Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture.
According to the release issued by the Ministry, in all these positions he promoted "policies aimed at strengthening productivity, business development, job creation, and the sustainable growth of productive sectors."
The most recent position he held within Produce was that of Vice Minister of MSEs and Industry. He held this role from November 2025 to July 2026, until the eve of assuming this new position. Appointed by César Quispe Luján, the outgoing Minister of Production included Requejo in both of his terms as head of the Ministry: from October 2025 to February 2026, as part of José Jerí's cabinet; and from February until this week, in José María Balcázar's cabinet.
Previously, Requejo had also served as Vice Minister of Labor in 2020, but his longest tenure at Produce was as Vice Minister of Fisheries, a position he held from 2014 to 2016, during the administration of Ollanta Humala, who had won the presidency by a narrow margin in the second round against Keiko Fujimori.
At the time of his appointment in September 2014, the Peruvian news outlet Proactivo highlighted that before assuming this role, he had served as General Director of Fisheries Supervision and Enforcement at the Ministry of Production, a position in which, the publication noted, he had achieved "significant results in the fight against illegal fishing."
Likewise, Produce's statement also highlighted that its new head was the superintendent of the National Superintendency of Labor Inspection (SUNAFIL), where he led initiatives to strengthen labor inspections and promote compliance with current regulations; and served as the central anti-corruption manager at the Comptroller General's Office, promoting mechanisms to strengthen transparency and integrity in public administration.
The new Minister of Production's career also includes positions as secretary general in the Ministries of Agriculture and Labor, as well as in the Judiciary and the Constitutional Court, consolidating extensive experience in public administration and institutional management.
Juan Carlos Requejo, therefore, fits the average profile of most members of Fujimori's new cabinet, which international media such as El País say is, for the most part, made up of ministers and public officials from past governments, some of them critical of the policies of the new President's father, Alberto Fujimori, now deceased, who also served as President.
According to Produce, with his appointment as Minister of Production, Requejo "reaffirms his commitment to strengthening micro and small businesses, boosting industry, fishing and aquaculture, promoting competitiveness, innovation and sustainable development of the country's productive sectors."
Although the new minister has not yet commented on the matter, following the new President's inaugural address, it is clear that El Niño will be one of his first challenges. During her speech, Fujimori stated that preparing for El Niño will be a priority and announced the implementation of a contingency plan to shift from reaction to prevention.
This climatic phenomenon has been a cause for particular concern for Peruvian fisheries authorities, who, for example, were forced last June to impose a new temporary suspension of the anchovy fishing season in north-central Peru—the second of the year after a ten-day suspension at the end of April—due to its effects. The ban remains in effect today.
The Peruvian Government's concern extends to international organizations such as IFFO – The Marine Ingredients Organisation, which warned a few months ago that the slow Peruvian anchovy season was shaping the global marine ingredients market. It's worth remembering that Peru alone accounts for around 20% of the world's production of fishmeal and fish oil.