No less than Trade Secretary Fred Pascual who led the meeting emphasized that the Philippines is keen on pursuing the resumption of negotiations concerning the Philippines-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA). Pascual stressed a successful negotiation of the FTA will provide the following benefits: (1) Help the Philippines secure additional duty-free market access beyond those covered by the EU GSP+ scheme; (2) Provide a conducive framework for attracting greater investments from the EU; and (3) Will put the Philippines at par with other ASEAN countries who are aggressively pursuing FTAs with the EU.

“I’d like to reemphasize our growth strategy centered around enhancing trade and investment. Our objective is to foster job creation and poverty reduction by uplifting the global position of our export sectors and driving investments into strategic areas,” Secretary Pascual pointed out in his opening message.

Likewise, the Trade Secretary added, “The EU GSP+ coverage of the Philippines will expire at the end of this year, and our governments are currently discussing its renewal. Since 2014, the EU-GSP+ has been instrumental in enabling the Philippines to enjoy broader market access and has significantly boosted our exports.”

During the meeting, members of the EU-ABC also took the opportunity to inquire on the current programs and policies of the DTI to attract foreign investments where Secretary Pascual said that the Philippines is currently taking a holistic approach that considers the role of macroeconomy, trade, technology, and sectoral policies. This will enable the country to have a modernized and integrated industrial capacity, strengthen Philippine participation in global value chains, and contribute to socioeconomic development.

Further, he shared that the Philippines is undertaking efforts to promote and help industries in retooling, reskilling, and upskilling the country’s human resource capital to enable industries to move toward higher value-adding production systems and processes. He also highlighted the government’s efforts to facilitate international partnerships and collaborations, one of which is through the recently-ratified Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement that will encourage foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows, as it creates a stable and predictable business environment.

The EU-ABC serves as the primary voice of the European businesses in the ASEAN region. It consists of nine (9) European Chambers of Commerce in Southeast Asia and major European MNCs across multiple sectors such as manufacturing, services, healthcare, and logistics among others. The meeting was also attended by the EU-ABC Chairman Mr. Martin Hayes, Vice Chairman Jens Ruebbert, Executive Director Chris Humphrey, European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines Executive Director Florian Gottein, and other representatives from various European businesses.

With some reservations from local farmers and lawmakers about the adoption of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Fred Pascual bared the Philippine government’s ongoing efforts to create an enabling environment where businesses can thrive during the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) Luncheon Meeting held on February 16, 2023, at the Dusit Thani Manila. 

Speaking to the participants and esteemed guests, the Trade Chief unveiled the priorities of the DTI to facilitate increased trade and investment and to improve global competitiveness, “The goal is to grow our economy and develop globally competitive and innovative industries that support inclusive growth and quality of life for all Filipinos”, he said. 

Secretary Pascual also took the opportunity to advocate the ratification of RCEP stating that, “The drive for immediate ratification of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement and other trade agreements is considered vital to expand the country’s market reach and foster globally competitive economic industries. The possible influx of investments that these agreements would bring will also create employment opportunities for Filipinos.” Likewise, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. earlier emphasized that RCEP would greatly complement the country’s game-changing economic reforms. 

Apart from RCEP, Secretary Pascual urged European businesses to support the Philippines’ re-application for the upcoming renewal of the European Union Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus (EU-GSP+). This was also supported by Assistant Secretary Allan B. Gepty, who was also present at the Luncheon Meeting and underscored the significant role of the EU-GSP+ during the open forum, “That is why EU-GSP+ is very important because it caters to the demands, the needs of our local stakeholders, and even investors who are exporting to the EU market”, he said. 

Secretary Pascual further reiterated that “the Philippines counts on European businesses’ continued support for our re-application in the upcoming renewal of the EU-GSP+ scheme and our advocacy to resume the PH-EU FTA negotiations. Your business presence here proves that the Philippines stands on sound economic and social reforms.” 

The European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) is a bilateral foreign chamber that promotes European interests in the Philippines and vice versa. ECCP also organizes business meetings; seminars with resource speakers from the Philippines, Asia, and Europe, which coordinate the position of the business sector; as well as dialogues with the Philippine government officials on important economic issues affecting the Philippine-European business relations.