PJEPA consultations start ahead of review

THE Department of Trade and Industry has begun consultations with civil society, the private sector and other stakeholders on the implementation of the Philippine Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (PJEPA).

The Philippines’ first bilateral trade agreement, PJEPA covers trade in goods, services, investments, movement of natural persons, intellectual property, customs procedures, improvement of business environment and government procurement.

According to DTI, the Philippines and Japan will conduct a general review in December this year, in accordance with the Third Joint Committee Meeting held in Tokyo last February.

“The government is now involving more stakeholders in policy development. We want to be transparent in forming and reviewing our international trade agenda,” DTI Secretary Gregory Domingo said on Monday.

He said these consultations would help the government to gather inputs and surface issues on how the government can push for more strategic and responsive trade policies.

The consultations on PJEPA form part of “One Country, One Voice,” a nationwide public consultation program that seeks to institutionalize and sustain stakeholder engagement in forming trade policies.

Ramon Vicente Kabigting, assistant secretary for the DTI-International Trade Group, said several Philippine exports to Japan such as semiconductors, apparel, clothing accessories and ceramic products hit high growth rates in 2009 despite the recent global recession.

Last year, Japan was the Philippines’ leading export market at 15.22 percent of Manila’s total shipments. Goods sold to Japan rose 26.1 percent to $7.8 billion.

Dr. Erlinda Medalla, research fellow at state-run Philippine Institute of Development Studies, said Japan increased investment in the Philippines after the PJEPA took effect in December 2008.

“Despite what happened to Japan, the Philippines was able to get more commitment from them. It’s up to us to take advantage of this,” she said.

Japanese investments in the Philippines grew 28 percent to P58 billion in 2010, majority of which flowed into manufacturing. –Lailany P. Gomez, Manila Times