MANILA, Philippines- Humingi ng suporta si Pangulong Ferdinand Marcos Jr. sa European Union-ASEAN Business Council (EU-ABC) at European Economic Community (EEC) para sa pagpapatuloy ng negosasyon para sa free trade agreement (FTA) sa pagitan ng Pilipinas at EU.
Ani Pangulong Marcos, ang pagtatatag ng isang bilateral FTA ay “win-win strategy” para sa dalawang partido, sabay sabing “promises to achieve mutually beneficial economic goals while maintaining consistency with the EU’s core ideals of sustainable development and environment protection as well as with the EU’s Indo-Pacific Strategy.”
“Hence, I take this opportunity to call upon our friends from the EU ABC and the ECCP to actively advocate for the resumption of negotiations for this purpose as well as to strive for fair treatment and more beneficial reciprocity,” ayon sa Pangulo sa kanyang talumpati sa isinagawang Joint EU-ASEAN Business Council and European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines gala dinner sa Makati.
“As credible voices of the European business community in the Philippines and the region, the EU ABC and ECCP can help move this thing forward all the way to a favorable conclusion. And if and when that happens, it could very well be the capstone of all efforts to strengthen PH-EU relations over the course of the next decades,” ang wika nito.
Matatandaang sinabi ni Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual na tinitingnan ng Pilipinas na bumalik sa negotiating table para sa posibleng FTA kasama ang regional bloc.
Ang exploratory FTA talks sa pagitan ng mga partido ay nagsimula noong 2013, habang ang paglulunsad naman ng negosasyon ay inanunsyo noong Disyembre 2015.
Ang unang negosasyon ng FTA ay isinagawa sa Brussels, Belgium noong 2016, sinundan ng second-round negotiations sa Cebu, sa Pilipinas noong 2017.
Samantala, sinabi naman ng Chief Executive na ang Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2023 to 2028 ay naka-angkla sa “creation of an enabling environment that shall facilitate the attainment of tangible socio-economic goals for our people.”
Tinuran nito na nagpatupad na ang administrasyon ng mga istratehiya na nakahanay dito kabilang na ang adjustments sa sistema ng corporate taxation, at implementasyon ng green lanes.
“This solid enabling environment will pave the way for our compliance with vital international obligations as determined by the EU. This condition of compliance will in turn guarantee our continued participation in the generalized system of preferences plus (GSP+) scheme,” aniya pa rin.
“As a result of the GSP+, we are optimistic that we shall soon witness a market growth of our MSME sector and our export market in the EU and also this will encourage further foreign investments in our manufacturing sector,” dagdag na wika nito.
“The EU GSP+ agreement grants the Philippines zero duties on 6,274 locally-made products, as long as the country meets the requirements regarding human and labor rights, the environment, and good governance,” ayon sa ulat.
Nakatakda namang mapaso ngayong taon ang partisipasyon ng Pilipinas sa GSP+ subalit kumpiyansang sinabi ni Pascual na magdedesisyon pa rin ang European Parliament pabor sa pagre-renew ng status ng bansa. Kris Jose
