Press Release No. 15/424

Press Release No. 15/424
September 17, 2015

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) unveiled the names of the selected finalists for its essay and photo contests, which were organized as part of the “Road to Lima” campaign, a joint initiative between the IMF and the government of Peru leading up to the Annual Meetings of the World Bank and the IMF in Lima. There are total of 11 finalists, six for the Peru wide essay contest and five for the regional photo contest. The finalists will be invited to participate in the events of the Annual Meetings in Lima starting on October 5 and will be recognized by the IMF’s Managing Director, Christine Lagarde. The announcement was made today at the book launch event “Peru: staying the course of economic success.”

“We are very pleased by the large number of participants and the high quality of entries we received for both events. I look forward to meeting the finalists during the meetings to continue this important dialogue we have with the youth about the future of our region,” said Alejandro Werner, Director of the Western Hemisphere Department at the IMF.

Essay Contest

A total of 369 entries were received for this contest jointly organized with the government of Peru. Undergraduate and graduate students from all disciplines in Peruvian universities were invited to submit essays on the theme “Shaping Peru’s National Agenda: A Youth Perspective.” Candidates had to structure their essays around one of the following six priority areas for Peru: macroeconomic stability and sustainability, productivity and innovation, education, gender, environment, and infrastructure. Judges from the government of Peru, the IMF, Economic and Social Research Consortium (CIES) selected the finalists based on pertinence of the essay and applicability as well as rigor, structure and coherence.

Finalists:
Cristian Bancayan Navarro
Silvia Espinal Meza
Ana Ximena Retamozo Ponce
Nuria Rodríguez Córdova
Enrique Tazza Trujillo
Mauricio Tong Wong

For more information on the essay contest see: www.imf.org/Ensayos2015

Photo contest

Young citizens of Latin American and Caribbean countries between the ages of 18 and 30, were invited to participate in the photo contest entitled “Latin America and the Caribbean: Through the Eyes of its Youth”. A total of 547 photographs from 21 countries were received. Participants were asked to submit images depicting the economic and social challenges facing their countries, as well as ideas for building a better future for the region. In a first stage, the top 20 pictures were selected through public online voting. A panel of judges composed of IMF staff, professional photographers and regional partners subsequently chose the five finalists entries based on originality, technical excellence and artistic merit.

Finalists:
Eric Ramón Martínez López, Mexico
Johanna Abril, Colombia
Fernando Javier Carranza Meneses, Peru
Juan Pablo Troncos Gálvez, Peru
Luiza Callado Pinto Neta, Brazil

Further information on the contest is available at: http://www.imf.org/IMFlatamyouth