Swiss gov’t moves to boost trade ties with booming PH

The Swiss government sees the Philippines as a strategic and important artner in its diversification strategy, which will see the European country further boosting its trade and investments in the country, being identified as one of the leading emerging markets in Asia.

Ambassador Livia Leu, head of the Bilateral Economic Relations Division of the Switzerland State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco), noted in a briefing yesterday that the establishment of the Joint Economic Commission (JEC) alone already indicated that they are “mutually interested in expanding” Switzerland’s bilateral ties with the Philippines.

The JEC, which was an offshoot of an agreement signed between the Philippines and Switzerland last year, held its inaugural meeting Monday.

Leu also expressed keen interest on their part to move forward with the negotiations for a free trade agreement (FTA) between the Philippines and the four member states of the European Free Trade Association (Efta), of which Switzerland is part. The other three countries in this group are Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein.

Trade Undersecretary Adrian S. Cristobal Jr. noted that the Philippines will aim for the conclusion of the FTA in two years’ time or by 2017, from the time negotiations are targeted to begin early 2015. The scoping agreement, which will outline the parameters of the proposed FTA, is targeted for completion this year, Cristobal added.

“We have an informal phase of discussions now on the scoping agreement that will define the parameters of a possible FTA. Switzerland has assumed chairmanship of the Efta this year, and we have been assured of their full support and cooperation in steering the Efta to a successful partnership with the Philippines,” the trade official further said.

In the meantime, the Philippines, Cristobal said, will continue to work to further strengthen its economic ties with Switzerland.

“We recognize the potential of our relations, and we have agreed to proactively promote bilateral trade and investments together with the private sector. This will be through trade and investment missions, exchange of visits, and participation in relevant commercial activities,” Cristobal said.

Following the inaugural JEC meeting yesterday, both countries have identified areas for cooperation, namely manufacturing, aerospace, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, semiconductor and electronics, and renewable energy. Both governments are also keen to continue promoting ICT, business process management (BPM) and knowledge process outsourcing (KPO), Cristobal disclosed.

Both countries have reportedly committed to support the activities of the Philippine-Swiss Business Council and the Swiss-Asian Chamber of Commerce. The Philippines has also expressed interest to be part of Switzerland’s import promotion program and welcomed the invitation of the Switzerland Global Enterprises for the country to be part of the Asia Day event taking place on June 23 to 24, 2015.

This, Cristobal said, provided an opportunity for the Philippines to highlight its key trade and investment priorities, especially since the country will be featured in that event.

“The Switzerland Global Enterprises, which is Switzerland’s investment promotion agency, encouraged us to organize a mission that would specifically focus on food or processed food, so we can gauge our capacity to meet their standards and phytosanitary requirements. We feel that Switzerland is a good market and we just need to assess how much work we have to do to meet those standards in order to enter the Swiss market,” Cristobal said.