REPRESENTATIVES from the Philippines and Czech Republic took part in the second Joint Committee on Economic Cooperation (JCEC) meeting to boost trade and investment relations.

Both parties addressed collaboration in various sectors including agriculture, health care and technology during a meeting on July 31 co-chaired by Trade Undersecretary Allan Gepty and Ministry of Industry and Trade Director General Eduard Muricky from the Czech Republic.

"The Czech Republic is an important partner of the Philippines in Europe. We believe that the JCEC offers an opportunity for us to enhance not only our trade and investment relations but also achieve more concrete outcomes that would contribute to the sustainable development of our countries," Gepty said in a statement on Friday.

The discussion also covered other sectors such as manufacturing, energy, environment, mining, transportation, information technology and business process management, aerospace and space technologies, defense, education, labor and tourism.

"The identified areas of cooperation reflect our mutual interests based on industrial strengths, technical expertise and resource endowments," Gepty said.

The Trade department said that in the last 10 years, the Philippines has largely maintained a trade surplus with the Czech Republic.

In 2023, total trade value between the two countries increased to $371.2 million. Philippine exports to the Czech Republic include semiconductor devices and sports footwear totaling $216.2 million.

Imports to the Philippines, meanwhile, amounted to $155 million with aircraft, electrical machinery, revolvers and pistols, and chandeliers and other lighting fittings as topping the list.

Both nations agreed to further increase trade volumes through focused promotion and greater use of the European Union's Generalized Scheme of Preferences Plus (EU GSP+), as well as the timely conclusion of the Philippine-European Union free trade agreement.

The meeting also addressed the global trade challenges and the role of international trade in economic stability.

Private sector representatives from both sides representing the electronics, manufacturing, water and waste management, renewable energy and transportation sectors also attended.

The second session of the JCEC sustains the positive trajectory from the recent high-level visits of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to the Czech Republic in March 2024 and Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala's visit to the Philippines in April 2023.

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