The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) expects more trade and investments from the European Union (EU) following the resumption of negotiations for a free trade agreement between the Philippines and the EU.
PEZA also sees the extension of the EU’s Generalized System of Preferences (GSP)+ will greatly benefit the Philippines pending the conclusion of the FTA.
“The (EU-Philippines) FTA would strengthen both the Philippines and the EU’s bilateral trade and economic relations, making an ecosystem fit for our agile investors given that the EU is the Philippines’ fifth largest trade partner,” Panga said in a statement.
He said the FTA would go beyond the benefits of the GSP+ scheme and will enhance competitiveness and foster sustainable, inclusive growth and development in the Philippines.
Under the GSP+, the Philippines has been benefitting from zero tariff on two-thirds of all product categories entering the EU market since 2014. The Philippines is proposing a four-year extension of the EU GSP+ which is set to expire by the end of the year.
“The EU FTA and the renewed GSP+ status will help the Philippines in its bid to attract EU FDI (foreign direct investments) from diverse strategic industries, catering to both domestic and export markets. This will likewise be instrumental in PEZA’s quest towards positioning the Philippines as the ideal base for offshore operations by EU companies eyeing to penetrate the much vibrant Asean and Asia-Pacific markets,” Panga said.
PEZA data showed there are 202 registered projects with equity from EU countries generating about P300 billion of cumulative investments, $ 12 billion of exports, and creating more than 50,000 direct jobs.
This developed as PEZA, in a business mission to Madrid, Spain on March 18 to 23, generated interest from Spanish investors engaged in higher-value products and technologies (i.e., electronics, automotive, ship building, pharmaceutical, renewable and alternative energy, construction materials) to expand the current trade of mostly agro-based products between our two countries.
Panga at the Philippine Investment Forum at the Centro de Filipinas en Madrid, Spain invited 30 participants from the Spanish business chamber and investment companies to invest in the Philippines’ ecozones.
These companies are from the shipbuilding, agro-industrial, pharmaceutical, IT-BPM, renewable energy, transport, steel and construction, water development, and tourism sectors.
“The mission has huge potentials for offshoring in the Philippines to cater to the domestic as well as regional markets particularly in the fields of shipbuilding and agro-industry,” Panga said.
PEZA is organizing an investment mission in partnership with the German-Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry to do follow-through on the investment leads generated by the recent visit of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to that country.
