US President Barack Obama on Wednesday committed to help the Philippines join the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership.
He said he and President Benigno Aquino III had directed their respective trade secretaries to start talks on how the Philippines could join the trade deal that initially included 12 Pacific Rim economies.
“We had a chance to discuss the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which is a pillar of America’s rebalance in the region,” Obama said.
“We welcome the Philippines’ interest in TPP and we have directed our trade ministers to have discussions about how TPP is going to be implemented among the original 12 countries and how we can work with the Philippines to follow through on their interest.
“TPP is designed to be an open and inclusive trade pact for countries that can meet its high standards.”
Aquino said he asked the US to help the Philippines meet the requirements for TPP accession.
“I conveyed the keen interest of the Philippines in the TPP and we hope that the United States, as one of our most important economic partners, can assist us in the process,” Aquino said.
He acknowledged that adopting more liberal trade policies was not a popular position for any political leader in the Philippines, especially with the coming elections in May.
“We recognize the pressure to make populist statements at this point in time. At the end of the election period, there will be sobriety and the argument that not opening ourselves up to a bigger market and freer access to that bigger market cannot be made,” Aquino said.
“Therefore, we think that once the elections are over, the current noise will die down and there will be new champions of increased free trade among all countries.”
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull expressed support for the Philippines’ bid to join the TPP.
“We note your enthusiasm for acceding to that treaty in the future and that is something that we would welcome as well,” Turnbull said.
The US-led TPP seeks to lower trade barriers to goods and services and set common standards in trade.
The trade deal covers about 40 percent of the world economy and its members are Brunei, Chile, Singapore, New Zealand, the United States, Australia, Peru, Vietnam, Malaysia, Mexico, Canada and Japan. Joyce Pangco Pañares