Partnership deal on track; bilateral trade pact next?
BusinessWorld, Manila
Partnership deal on track; bilateral trade pact next?
13 December 2011
The Philippines is not ready to commit to negotiations but is still “very serious” about pursing a free trade agreement (FTA) with the European Union, seen as a major export market and investment partner.
The wait comes as both parties, at the Seventh EU-Philippines Senior Officials Meeting, yesterday announced the signing next year of the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA), a prerequisite deal to an FTA.
The EU also committed to two financing agreements worth P550 million for environmental and health projects focused on Mindanao and its indigenous communities.
“Our discussions covered many areas of cooperation, and the progress we’ve made ... signifies a new maturity in the Philippines-EU partnership,” Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Elizabeth P. Buensuceso told reporters.
“We are also happy to note that the EU has been successful in completing internal requirements of the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement,” she added.
Viorel Isticioaia Budura, European External Action Service managing director for Asia-Pacific, affirmed that “EU-Philippines relations are in excellent shape.”
“There is no precise moment next year of the signing, but we are planning an appropriate moment in a way that will reflect the political importance we (the EU) attach to the [PCA],” Mr. Budura said.
A joint statement said officials had mulled “advanced implementation of key areas under the PCA, pending ratification of the said agreement...”
Both parties also convened a separate EU-Philippines investment working group to be chaired by Ramon Vicente T. Kabigting, Trade assistant secretary, and Peter Berz, the European Commission’s head of trade relations with the region.
A bilateral deal was not discussed at the meeting per se, Mr. Kabigting said, although discussions dealt with trade and investment flows ahead of the formal FTA negotiations.
“You take a look at what constitutes FTAs nowadays and what we discussed were all the things a ... deal would be concerned about, such as competition policies, government procurement, and the like,” he said.
The Philippines is making additional preparations by holding “consultations ... in major cities, commissioning a study from a network of research groups led by the PIDS (Philippine Institute of Development Studies), and improving the negotiation and analytical skills of our officials,” Mr. Kabigting said.
