Enrique Villar-Gambetta – CHAIR

Attorney

Enrique Villobar

Honorary Consul of Peru

What drew you to be a part of the OKGIT?

The Oklahoma Governor’s International Team in my opinion is a superior and professional organization with great people to work with and learn from. You  have the possibility to perform great projects and work out ideas with other colleagues and entities. This is a strong asset for our State,  and for me it was reason more than enough to be part of the team.
Tell us about your international experiences and how that is reflected in your life/work in Oklahoma? 

I have had my law office in Lima, Peru since 1997 and my expertise is foreign investment and international business. I have worked in many different places and handled different legal cases in places like Panama, Colombia, Argentina, Chile, Bolivia and have important connections with law firms in that countries and others like Uruguay, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Spain and Portugal.

In Oklahoma I’m part of the one of the state’s oldest immigration law firms that offers legal assistance with my contacts as well as forging  connections with potential business and universities in those countries. I can offer to the local companies in here the possibility to safely explore the right contacts for business internationally. In fall 2019 I have worked with Sister Cities International Oklahoma on relationships between Piura,Peru and Oklahoma City along with Miraflores, Peru and Edmond Oklahoma.

Why is it important for you that Oklahoma has strong international ties?
I see the United States as like a continent, with each state  like a country ( in terms of economy, population, and resources, among other assets). I think Oklahoma needs more in presentations outside about our state. I do that in my country with my clients and contacts in addition to those I meet with in Panama, Portugal, Spain, Chile, Colombia. We need to work more in South and Central America and I can offer a game plan suit with those 12 countries. I agree that commercial missions with Europe and Middle East are important, but we need to maintain our eyes open in that part of the world.

About Enrique

Born and raised in Lima, Peru. Attended Law School and graduated as Bachelor of Political Science and Juris Doctor. He has practiced law intensely for 31 years in Peru and through partner law offices handles diverse proceedings in other countries like Chile, Colombia and Panama. He specializes in foreign investment, corporative, criminal and international commercial relations, and is advisor in international business to a very important and large list of clients in Peru and other countries.       

He began his professional practice at the same time he started law school, and as a result has accumulated vast experience in diverse fields and areas of the law. Has been in the Court of Appeals of Lima; intensively practiced Criminal Law in the Military Court; then went into private practice and into Trademark and Commercial Law in the prestigious Law Firm Alcorta, Barrios, Hundskof and Zas; later he became Senior Partner and General Manager in charge of the Labor, Trademark, Bankruptcy and Commercial Areas in one of the oldest and most traditional private Law firms in Peru, Manuel de la E Chacaltana Abogados. There, he also implemented and organized a criminal area in the firm. 

In 1997 he founded his own law firm that is known today as Villar, Carreras, Alvarez & Salazar, Attorneys at Law. As CEO, Villar-Gambetta handles judiciary procedures, taxes, foreign investment, commercial law, civil law, criminal, labor and administrative law, trademarks, oil, gas and mining law. His list of clients hail from Peru, Chile, India, Spain and United States of America. The firm also has correspondent offices in countries like the U.S., Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Guatemala, and Panamá, among others. In 2007, the firm handled Commercial Missions to Peru and Chile with the Lima Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce.

In 2008 he partnered with to the oldest Immigration Law Firm in Oklahoma, Winningham, Stein & Basey. The same year he organized a commercial mission to Peru to make presentations from de Chamber of Commerce of Lima, The Chamber of Commerce of Ucayali and the Minister of Commerce and Tourism of the Republic of Peru and received an official mission from the Government of Peru connected with the free trade agreement between the United States and Peru. As result of that mission the State of Oklahoma authorized the U.S. trade representative in Washington D.C. to incorporate access to Oklahoma State Government Procurement in the Free Trade Agreements that the United States has signed with Peru. 

This vital document allows companies from Oklahoma to do business with the official entities of the government of Peru with the same advantages, capabilities and rights as a Peruvian one. It is the strongest document for business purposes that we have with this country.

In December 2011 by Supreme Resolution No.450-2011, dated December 15, 2011, signed by the President of the Republic of Peru, Mr. Ollanta Humala Tasso and his Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Rafael Roncagliolo Orbegoso appointed Enrique Villar-Gambetta Honorary Consul of Peru in the City of Oklahoma City, United States of America, with circumscription in the State of Oklahoma.

He has been a member of the OKGIT since 2013.