Europe sees substantial rise in trade with PH

The European Union expects bilateral trade with the Philippines to increase “substantially” this year, due to the local economy’s robust growth and the recovery of Europe.

Helena Konig, directorate general for trade of the European Commission, said in a briefing last week that, in 2013, the total trade in goods between the EU and the Philippines rose by 9 percent to 10.8 billion euros.

Of this amount, she said, 5.7 billion euros represented EU’s exports to the Philippines while the remaining 5.1 billion euros comprised the bloc’s imports.

“Trade recorded was the largest in a decade. The Philippines became EU’s 46th trading partner—three levels up compared to the year before. Meanwhile, the EU became the third largest supplier of goods to the Philippines,” the EU reported.

The trade numbers, along with the foreign direct investments, are expected to rise as the EU steps up commercial relations with the Philippines, specifically through a possible free trade agreement and the approval of the country’s application for the new Generalized System of Preferences, or GSP+ scheme.

Konig is in the Philippines to meet with officials from the Department of Trade and Industry. The meetings have been described to be “promising in terms of increasing trade and foreign direct investments in the Philippines, which should further contribute to inclusive growth and employment.”

According to Konig, a final decision on whether the Philippines can secure benefits under the EU GSP+ is expected before the end of the year.

This new, revised scheme, she stressed, is an extremely important development instrument that allows the EU to give more preferential treatment than it does under the regular GSP system, from which the Philippines is currently benefiting.

“It will be very important for the Philippines to [be part of the] GSP+ for now because it takes some time to negotiate for a free trade agreement … Your industries could actually do with some extra benefits in the meantime,” Konig said.

Currently, both the EU and the Philippines are conducting preparatory talks to draw up the so-called scoping agreement which is targeted for signing by the end of the year, DTI officials had said.

“The Philippines has signaled some time ago that they are interested to go into a free trade agreement negotiation with EU and we’re pleased to hear that. This scoping will allow both sides to have a common idea on what we all want to get out of the FTA,” Konig said.