The Philippines is interested in engaging in a free trade deal with the European Union and increasing the utilization of Generalized Scheme of Preferences Plus, despite worries by the trade coalition on the country's workers' welfare situation.
With its withdrawal from the European Union, the United Kingdom is seeking to hammer out a free trade agreement (FTA) with its economic allies, and it could just strike one with the Philippines.
The potential for a free trade deal with the United Kingdom is "quite strong" at this juncture after the British revoked its membership with the EU, a United Kingdom trade representative to the Philippines disclosed.
UK trade ambassador to the Philippines Richard Graham said Tuesday that the UK's decision to leave the European Union gave trade partners the chance to establish an FTA with it. Graham stated that one of the areas being explored by the UK is the Philippines' capital city, Manila, as business between the two countries is "complementary."
Philippine Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez told members of the press that the country remains open to talks for an FTA with EU, even as the trade federation announced in its Report on GSP+ for 2018-2019 that there are some important issues to be discussed in the country.
According to Lopez, the Philippines "will always be open" to discussing the FTA with the Europeans. With a new leadership, Lopez hopes the UK can "reciprocate the interest and continue the rounds of talks leading into the FTA."
For Graham, he said the great thing about trade between the Philippines and UK is that "we are very complementary. You export a lot of agricultural goods to the UK... and we export to you aerospace, high tech products, and automotive."
Prior to a potential trade deal with the Philippines, Graham said that the UK is prioritizing Malaysia, Vietnam and Singapore among Southeast Asian nations. The UK officially withdrew from the EU on January 31, and its transition period will continue until December 31, this year.
While FTA discussions have not yet commenced, Graham said the UK is looking to open up its trading channel further to the Philippines by tailoring its current preferential trade contracts.
There have been two series of meetings for the FTA between the Philippines and the Europeans, with the first conducted in May 2016 in Belgium, and the last one held in Cebu, last February 2017.
While the two parties have yet to sign a trade deal, Lopez said the Philippines is able to benefit from trade preferences under the GSP+ which allows beneficiary nations to export 6,274 products to the trade alliance at zero tax.
