The Philippines expects to forge commercially meaningful partnerships with US businesses and investors with the arrival to the country of an American trade mission next week, a trade official announced on Saturday.
“There will be a high-level delegation comprised of 22 business delegates, C-level representatives from strategic sectors and iyong pag-uusapan po next week is of course how to enhance our trade and investment relations,” Jollan Margaret Llaneza, the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) Foreign Trade Service Officer, said in a news forum in Quezon City.
“Ang goal po natin dito is of course to foster iyong relationship ng ating Philippine business sector with their American counterparts para po magkaroon tayo ng mga commercially meaningful na partnerships,” she said.
Trade & investment mission
The incoming trade and investment mission next week, headed by US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, was the result of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s visit to the United States last year, where US President Joe Biden made a commitment to send high-level trade and investment missions to the Philippines.
Raimondo and the US delegation are expected to meet with President Marcos in Malacanang, as well as with Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual.
In terms of the country’s trade and investment relationship, Llanera said the US belongs to the Philippines’ top three trading partners, along with Japan and China.
“Kung mapapansin ninyo po si US po at si Japan are actually our strategic partners. So, kung napapansin ninyo po iyong sa discussion po kanina mayroon po silang napapag-usapan na mga other defense treaties – so, part po iyan ng kabuuan ng ating strategic partnership with the United States,” Llanera said.
“Sa Japan naman po, mayroon po tayong mga policy instruments that frame our economic relations. So, mayroon po tayong bilateral free trade agreement with Japan iyong tinatawag po natin na Philippines-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement or iyong PJEPA and mayroon din po tayong agreement with actually with them under the context of ASEAN,” she pointed out.
FTA with China
With regard to China, the Philippines maintains a free trade agreement (FTA) with the Asian giant under the context of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), or the ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement.
Both Japan and China are part of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP).
The country benefits from these trade agreements through much lower tariff rates as well as more liberalized market access for Filipino exporters, Llanera said.
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