PH-EU to tackle issues on planned trade deal

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THE Philippines and the European Union (EU) will hold a second round of negotiations on a planned free trade agreement (FTA) in Manila next month, covering a full range of topics, officials said.

The second round of talks in mid-February builds on the successful first round in October in Brussels, Massimo Santoro, EU ambassador to the Philippines, said in a speech at the 9th Joint Economic Briefing in Makati City yesterday.

In a separate interview, Trade Undersecretary Allan Gepty said this will be a full round of negotiations covering topics on trade in goods, rules of origin, customs and trade facilitation, trade remedies, technical barriers to trade, sanitary and phytosanitary measures and services and investment. 

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The discussions last October began on a positive footing, the EU ambassador said. “I’m confident this very positive momentum will be kept in order for both sides to deliver well and to deliver fast,” 

 “The objective of our FTA is to bring our bilateral economic ties to a new level. Through the FTA, we aim to facilitate not only merchandise trade, but also trade in services, and to create more incentives for investment,” he said. 

“We believe that an FTA can serve as a catalyst of economic growth, benefiting businesses, workers and consumers on both sides,” Santoro added.

But the ambassador said the EU believes its bilateral exchanges with the Philippines “are not at the level of our mutual ambitions. They are good, but they are not yet at the right level.”

Trade and investment figures for the whole of 2024 have not yet been published, but “we can already say that our bilateral exchanges can better match the level of our mutual ambitions.”

While the EU is the fourth largest trading partner of the Philippines with an 11 percent share of Philippine exports and 6 percent of imports, the Southeast Asian country is only the sixth economic partner of the EU among the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the ambassador said.

Data from the commission showed total trade in goods between the EU and the Philippines amounted to 16.1 billion euros in 2023, slightly lower than the 18.4 billion euros in 2022. 

EU exports to the Philippines include machinery, transport equipment, chemicals, and food products, while the Philippines’ main exports to the EU are office and telecommunications equipment, machinery, food products, and optical and photographic instruments.

“We can do more, considering the potential and the size of the Philippine market and the resources of the country,” Santoro said.

“The EU considers the Philippines as a crucial partner in the Indo-Pacific region. The EU also sees the significant economic potential of the country,” he added.

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