Biz chambers back RCEP ratification

LOCAL and foreign business chambers are endorsing the ratification of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

Sergio Ortiz-Luis, president and honorary chairman of the Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) and chairman of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), said the Philippines is at the “tail end” of its neighbors at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).

“Among our Asean neighbors, we are at the tail end,” said OrtizLuis.

“We have waited long enough for this [ratification], and we are very late already. All the others have overtaken us,” he said.

Once the Senate ratifies the RCEP on Tuesday, Ortiz-Luis said this “will bring us competitive with others, at least to a certain degree. We can’t afford not to have trade agreements and, at the same time, to not be part of it.”

“We have lessons in the past, we enter into negotiations without involving the private sector. And by the time we are allowed to take part there are already promised safeguards, especially in the agriculture sector, that have disappeared, so there are bad lessons,” he said.

“Fortunately, in the case of RCEP, this is widely debated on and for a long time, so we are already familiar. And if there are vacuums, these have been filled up, there are safeguards already,” he added.

Ortiz-Luis also pointed out that the disadvantages of the RCEP to the agriculture sector have been addressed and may have “minimal effects, if ever.”

Meanwhile, the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) has also called on the Senate to ratify the RCEP immediately.

“The Philippines cannot afford to leave itself out of the bloc since being a member will harness economic benefits that will hasten economic recovery from the scars, higher debt and economic damages caused by the Covid-19 pandemic,” AmCham said in a statement.

“The chamber believes that the Philippines’ participation in RCEP will boost the country’s competitiveness and will reflect a strong, rules-based economy. This will encourage more foreign direct investments (FDIs) in the country which ultimately translates into more jobs for Filipinos,” the chamber further commented.

AmCham pointed out that the RCEP is already in force in Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Only Myanmar and the Philippines have yet to formally ratify the economic agreement.