The Philippines is targeting to forge a comprehensive economic partnership agreement (EPA) with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and a preferential trade agreement with India, according to an official of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).
DTI Assistant Secretary for Industry Development and Trade Policy Group Allan B. Gepty said Manila has already informed the UAE of its intent to hold discussions about the EPA.
“With UAE we just basically launched the manifestation, the intent to embark on a comprehensive economic partnership agreement. So the next step is for us to work on the terms of reference or the scoping paper for the trade negotiation,” Gepty told reporters on the sidelines of the British Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (BCCP) held recently in Makati City.
When asked about the goods or products that will be covered by the EPA, Gepty said, “As much as possible we want to really maximize market access in that particular country.”
The Trade official said Halal food may also be included because it was covered by the negotiations. Gepty said the UAE is a market that Manila wants to explore as thousands of Filipinos are residing there.
He said Filipino micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) can look at UAE as another market or an expanded market for their products.
Gepty said the EPA would also cover services which would allow Filipino professionals and service providers to do business in UAE.
The DTI said UAE hosts known Philippine franchise brands and over a thousand Filipino-owned businesses from different sectors, including food and beverage, trading and logistics, consultancy and other creative services, education and training and hospitality services.
Moreover, UAE is one of the top destinations of overseas Filipinos in the Middle East. Majority of the Filipinos in UAE are engaged in engineering and architecture, tourism and hospitality sector, customer service, and health and medical fields.
In a statement last Saturday, the Center of International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM) said a delegation of 18 Philippine companies will showcase premium halal-certified food products through a country exhibit at the Gulf Food Hotel and Equipment Exhibition and Salon Culinaire, or Gulfood, which will be held at the Dubai World Trade Centre in the UAE from February 20 to 24.
CITEM said the Philippines’s “hybrid participation” will consist of manufacturers and exporters of fresh and processed fruits and vegetables; processed marine products; ethnic and gourmet products; non-alcoholic beverages; confectionery, biscuits, and pastries; and other food and beverage categories.
Meanwhile, Gepty also said the Philippines is also interested in working out a preferential trade agreement with India. He said, however, that this will only cover goods.
The goods that will be covered under this agreement, he said, will still be subject to negotiations.
“We want to optimize the market but of course we have industrial goods because once we secured preferential market access for industrial goods, basically that also attracts investments,” Gepty said.
“So because they know that if they want to access the Indian market, and they know that you have a preferential arrangement with India, that [encourages] them in a way to consider the Philippines as a location for manufacturing, processed products,” the Trade official added.
Currently, the Philippines has bilateral free trade agreements (FTA) with Japan and countries belonging to the European Free Trade Association.
Gepty noted that the Philippines has recently concluded a bilateral FTA with South Korea and that Manila is hoping to sign the FTA within the first quarter.