Phl, EU vow enhanced trade, investment relations
The Philippines and the European Union are committed to continue to enhance trade and investment relations as they held for the first time a meeting on trade, investment and economic cooperation last Friday.
“The first meeting of the subcommittee on trade, investment, and economic cooperation was successfully conducted on Friday. This is a meaningful step forward, as there is more openness to continuing the engagement,” Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said.
In a statement, the delegation of the EU to the Philippines said the virtual meeting of the subcommittee was led on the EU side by Peter Berz, head of unit for South and South-East Asia, Australia, New Zealand at the directorate General for Trade, and Trade Assistant Secretary Allan Gepty for the Philippines.
“The sub-committee meeting took place in a friendly and constructive atmosphere and provided a platform for both the EU and the Philippines to discuss various trade-related topics including bilateral trade and investment performance, with close attention to the implementation by the Philippines of the GSP+ (Generalized Scheme of Preferences Plus) preferential trade scheme and the related commitments,” the EU delegation said.
The GSP+ allows the Philippines to export 6,274 products to the EU at zero duty.
As a condition to keeping the EU GSP+ beneficiary status, the Philippines should implement 27 international conventions on human rights, labor rights, environmental protection and good governance.
Also discussed in the sub-committee meeting are market access issues, regulatory developments, regional trade agreements and reforms in the multilateral trading system, and areas for future engagement and cooperation.
As the Philippines and the EU commit to having a free trade agreement (FTA), Lopez said it is important for both parties to continue the dialogue.
“This includes conduct of confidence-building monitoring missions under GSP+,” he said.
In September last year, the EU Parliament issued a resolution calling on the EU Commission to immediately initiate the procedure, which could lead to the removal of the Philippines’ GSP+ benefit citing the country’s deteriorating human rights situation and level of press freedom.
So far, there have been two rounds of negotiations for the EU-Philippines FTA, with the first held in May 2016, and the last one in February 2017.
“Notwithstanding the pandemic, the Philippines and EU are committed to continue their exchange of views on economic reforms and discuss issues necessary to further enhance their trade and investment relations,” Lopez said.
As the EU is the Philippines’ fourth largest trading partner, fourth biggest export market, and third source of imports, Lopez said the engagement through the meeting of the sub-committee on trade, investment and economic cooperation would build confidence for both businesses and investors.
“The sub-committee is also a good platform to pursue more cooperation, and EU is ready to provide capacity building through existing programs including technical assistance regarding their new regulations or policies,” he said.
The EU delegation said the meeting is important in keeping both parties informed of trade and economic developments with international cooperation now seen as crucial in helping economies recover from the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.
As part of the EU-Philippines Partnership and Cooperation Agreement, three sub-committees including the one on trade, investment and economic cooperation were formed to provide a platform to deepen relations.