PH, Mexico mull FTA, currency accord

The administration will soon explore free trade deals as well as currency agreements with Mexico in a bid to improve the bilateral ties between the foreign country and the Philippines.

During a recent meeting, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III and Mexican Ambassador to Manila Julio Camarena Villasenor discussed these possible agreements.

Dominguez, for his part, suggested the possibility of a currency agreement with Mexico, while Camarena proposed talks on a free trade deal with the Philippines, which, he said, was welcomed favorably by Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez during their earlier meeting last year. “Our country has a common history. In fact, the galleon trade (between Mexico and the Philippines) was the first true free trade agreement,” Camarena said during the meeting.

Camarena said Mexico has brought in some US$2.8 billion in investments to the Philippines, including business operations by Cemex, its largest cement and building materials manufacturer, and Coke-FEMSA, the world’s biggest franchise bottler of Coca Cola products.

The Philippines, in turn, has some US$600 million in private-sector investments in Mexico, including Enrique Razon’s International Container Terminal Services, Inc. and Ayala Corp.’s Integrated Micro-Electronics, Inc. (IMI).

Camarena also raised Mexico’s concerns regarding double taxation and visa arrangements for its nationals visiting the Philippines.

Dominguez then assured Camarena that he would help push the PhilippinesMexico agreement on the avoidance of double taxation, which remains pending in the Senate for concurrence.

He likewise assured the Mexican ambassador that he would discuss with the relevant government agencies the possibility of reciprocating Mexico’s liberal visa arrangement for Filipinos, which allows them to enter visa-free and stay in that country for as long as six months if they hold a Schengen, US or Japan visa.