PRAGUE: President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Friday said he has received strong words of support from Germany and the Czech Republic for the resumption of negotiations for the proposed free trade agreement (FTA) between the Philippines and the European Union (EU).
Speaking to the Philippine media delegation here, Marcos said that even private corporations hope to see the FTA finalized, underscoring its potential to facilitate increased investment in the Philippines.
"Absolutely, we always bring it up, especially when we're in the EU, we mention the FTA. It needs to be continued and completed. Because it really, it becomes important because we're talking about partnerships and joint ventures," Marcos said.
The President also believed that the FTA would provide a structured framework for partnerships and investments.
"As I said it becomes important because everybody knows what the rules are, both the European side and the Philippine side. That's essentially what the trade agreement is about. And so that hopefully that would provide the structure to encourage more investment in the Philippines," Marcos said.
"When they talk about the FTA with the EU, they are consistent in their positioning and yes they say that yes, we are very much in favor of that," he added.
Marcos also said this was part of the focus that the EU was bringing on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and the Indo-Pacific region, both economically and strategically.
"It really is part and parcel of that... So it is the common EU position. So it's not surprising that each country that is a member state of the EU has a consistent view on that," he said.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo said that the Philippine government was hoping to launch formal free trade agreement negotiations with the EU.
The negotiations for the EU-Philippines FTA started in 2015. The last round of negotiations was held in Cebu City in 2017. Since then, negotiations have been put on hold.
The Philippines currently enjoys trade preferences under the EU's Generalised Scheme of Preferences + or GSP+, a special incentive arrangement for sustainable development and good governance which grants duty-free access to the EU market for two-thirds of tariff lines.
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