The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) said Wednesday it welcomes the resumption of free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations between the Philippines and the European Union (EU) to increase market access, deeper economic ties and widen investment opportunities.
PCCI president Enunina Mangio said the business community is optimistic that the talks, previously stalled over intellectual property, human rights and environmental standards issues, would culminate in a successful agreement.
“The FTA should be able to expand on opportunities, especially in services such as BPO [business process outsourcing] and KPO [knowledge process outsourcing], digital commerce and agri-technology,” Mangio said.
She said the preferential trade with the EU under its Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+) helped boost exports of many micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
PCCI chairman George Barcelon, however, cautioned against overly stringent EU conditions, particularly those related to carbon emission standards. He said such standards could hinder growth in developing economies.
“The EU must be realistic in its expectations of the Philippines. While being able to leverage on our comparative advantages for a PH- EU partnership, our negotiators must ensure we can comply without having to compromise our development,” he said.
The EU emerged as the Philippines’ fifth largest trading partner in 2023, with total trade exceeding $16 billion. It also ranked as the sixth largest export market and import source for the Philippines.
Meanwhile, the Philippines and Germany reaffirmed strong bilateral economic partnership during the 2nd Joint Economic Commission (JEC) meeting on Mar. 27.
DTI Undersecretary for International Trade Allan Gepty and Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action Parliamentary State Secretary Stefan Wenzel co-chaired the meeting.
Discussions centered on expanding cooperation in key sectors like manufacturing, energy, infrastructure, IT-BPM, innovation, vocational training and labor. Both sides identified potentials for collaboration in areas such as mineral processing and investment financing.
Gepty noted the importance of trade policy in addressing climate change and promoting environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives.