The Philippines is poised to ensure unhampered supply of food and energy in signing the supply chain agreement of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) .
Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual told reporters in a briefing the 14 IPEF countries, including the Philippines on November 14 signed IPEF for Prosperity Agreement Relating to Supply Chain Resilience, which he said will benefit the country.
Pascual expects cooperation, capacity building and collaboration with IPEF countries in addressing bottlenecks in the delivery of critical goods for national security, food supply and energy supply.
Supply chain is the second pillar in IPEF and has been substantially concluded in May.
“This agreement will provide a number of benefits… where the partners commit towards resilient, robust t and well integrated supply chain,” Pascual said.
Specific to the Philippines, Pascual expects the mobilization of sustainable investments from IPEF including the United States “because we will be viewed as reliable partner, as being able to supply goods when needed.”
Pascual said the Philippines’ signing the agreement “sends positive signals to other members of IPEF the Philippines is a reliable (partner) for diversification and alternative supplier of goods and services, “ Pascual said.
He said with the agreement, the Philippines expects the expansion of its supply base and the development of new suppliers for incoming investments to the Philippines of IPEF-based companies.
“This agreement enable knowledge transfer. Capacity building helpful will make the Philippine logistics more efficient in the country,” Pascual said. Irma Isip
