RCEP will be the Senate’s priority after the budget is passed in order to boost local economic activities.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said that the Senate will be tackling the ratification of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).
RECEP is a free trade agreement among the Asia-Pacific nations like Australia, China, Indonesia, South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, and the Philippines. Its aim is to establish a modern, comprehensive, high-quality, and mutually beneficial economic partnership that will encourage the growth of regional commerce and investment and support the development and growth of the world's economy.
Marcos said that he discussed the RCEP during his talk with the Indonesian President Joko Widodo.
“We also covered the RCEP, during our talk. the ratification of the RCEP by the Philippines, which is going to be very high up on the order of business of the Senate, after the budget is passed,” Marcos said.
The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said that Congress is expected to pass the proposed 2023 national budget by October and signed by Marcos before the end of 2022.
Meanwhile, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has been pushing for the formal consent of the free trade agreement as it has remained pending long after it went into effect this year.
This free trade agreement would help boost local economic activities especially to the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME), the Business Mirror reported.
This would also help them recover form the economic losses during the pandemic.
However, Marcos said that he would first determine the possible impact of the agreement to some sectors, specifically the agricultural sector before it is ratified.
Tags: #RCEP, #MSME, #Trade, #Local