THE Philippine is seeking to have a wider market access with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) through a comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA).
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) announced on Thursday that both countries have agreed to start scoping discussions for a potential trade deal.
This, after Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez met with UAE’s State Minister Ahmed bin Ali Al Sayegh and Foreign Trade Minister Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi earlier this month at the sidelines of the Global Business Forum Asean during the Expo 2020 Dubai.
“Both governments recognize the large potential to expand bilateral trade and investment relations and are working towards the finalization of key agreements that will pave the way for the start of the broader CEPA negotiations,” Lopez said.
The trade negotiations, he explained, will be guided by the parties’ proposed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Economic and Technical Cooperation and the Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (IPPA) which are both under way.
The said MOU paves the way for a joint economic commission to implement cooperation initiatives on several areas of trade and investment.
These include agribusiness, manufacturing, renewable energy, real estate development, logistics, transportation, communication, tourism, technology and innovation.
“In addition, the Philippines-UAE IPPA is expected to further deepen economic relations between the two countries by creating favorable conditions for investments and stimulating business initiatives while ensuring that the interests and sensitivities of both parties are protected,” the DTI chief said.
The IPPA seeks to boost UAE investors’ engagement in the Philippines in agribusiness, energy efficiency technologies and renewable energy, infrastructure, information technology-business process management, oil and gas and tourism.
In the first nine months, net foreign direct investments from UAE reached $2.43 million. This is already more than double than 2020 full-year investments of $1.18 million.
UAE, meanwhile, 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.
Next to Saudi Arabia, UAE is the largest destination of overseas Filipino in the Middle East, the DTI noted.
Majority of the Filipinos in UAE are engaged in engineering and architecture, tourism and hospitality sector, customer service, and health and medical fields.
“Given our economic complementarities and the strong ties between our peoples, we are optimistic that the proposed CEPA with UAE will redound to mutual benefits and will play an important role in accelerating the growth trajectory of the Philippine economy,” Lopez concluded.
Image courtesy of King Rodriguez
