Free Trade Agreements

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines would have to ease restrictions in the economic provisions of the Constitution for it to be able to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), an emerging trade bloc that accounts for a third of world trade, foreign business leaders said yesterday.

WASHINGTON: A standoff between the United States and Japan is holding up talks on a sweeping Pacific free trade pact and a lack of authority to push an eventual deal through the US Congress without amendment may be undercutting Washington’s hand.

The government will put more teeth on initiatives, including education drives and linking small- and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) to trade chains, to make free trade agreement (FTA) benefits trickle down to the grassroots, an official said Tuesday night.

QUEZON CITY, Jan. 7 (PIA) – The Philippines notched among the highest usage of ASEAN trade deals in the region, according to experts, urging Asian neighbors to adopt the country’s outreach campaigns to help more businesses reap integration gains.

COOPERATION among Asian economies has strengthened in response to global financial and euro zone debt crises, according to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) but more has to be done to address overlapping free trade agreements and non-trade barriers.

Bank sees PH potential, but urges reforms to hasten progress Despite its favorable demographics, the Philippines continues to miss out on a greater share of foreign direct investments (FDIs) due to a “restrictive” foreign ownership policy and “uncompetitive” business environment, British banking giant HSBC said.

The Philippines will have an advantage when the single market is established among the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) by 2015, says an official of the Delegation of the European Union.

After its four-year implementation in the Philippines, the P420-million Trade Related Technical Assistance Program 2 (TRTA2) of the European Union (EU) will be have a follow up program to be launched within the year.

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia – The Philippines and the European Union (EU) signed a landmark treaty on Wednesday, July 11, that will pave the way for a full-scale free trade agreement between the two countries. The Partnership Cooperation Agreement (PCA) provides legal basis for Manila and EU states and territories to cooperate in a wide range…

THE Philippines and the Euro-pean Union (EU) are expected to sign the landmark Partnership Cooperation Agreement (PCA) next month at the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Regional Forum in Phnom Penh. The agreement is expected to move forward negotiations for a free-trade agreement (FTA) that will facilitate trade and investments and…

More Filipino exporters are using the Asean Australia New Zealand Free Trade agreement (AANZFTA) as Philippine utilization rate increased by 76.1 percent in 2011 compared to 64.1 percent in 2010.

THE EUROPEAN Union reiterated its intention to negotiate with the Philippines a comprehensive free trade agreement which will include chapters on business and regulatory environments, a Trade official said on Tuesday.

AT the summit of leaders of states and territories that straddle the Pacific Ocean, the most important topics that should have been discussed are countries that do not belong to the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) bloc—Iran and eurozone nations, particularly Italy and Greece.

HONOLULU (AP) — Leaders working to forge a Pacific free trade bloc plan to announce an outline for achieving that goal at an annual Asia-Pacific summit this weekend, one of many initiatives aimed at fending off recession as Europe struggles to resolve its debt crisis.

Despite the financial instability that almost crippled economies in the past years, the Japan-Philippine Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) increased trade volume between the two countries with Manila’s export to Tokyo going up from $6.21 billion in 2009 to $7.8 billion in 2010.

The Philippines must liberalize its economic policies to attract more investors, China’s top diplomat to Manila urged the government of President Aquino. Ambassador Liu Jianchao, at a press briefing Wednesday, singled out mining as one of the major industries that should undergo policy reforms as many Chinese investors complain of going through many obstacles before…

Empowering the Filipino People (First of Two Parts) MANILA, Philippines — LAST 18 August, FVR keynoted the 6th Pan-Beibu Gulf Economic Cooperation (PBGEC) Forum in Nanning, Guangxi Province, People’s Republic of China, upon the invitation of the People’s Government of Guangxi and the China Development Institute.

India has been complaining about the reluctance of the government to open up its services market during recent negotiations in Indonesia for the proposed India-Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) free trade agreement.

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has asked members of the civil society and business organizations to participate in free trade agreements (FTA) consultations after the groups issued a warning on the DTI to carefully study the social costs of FTAs.

A GROUP of banana growers on Tuesday said the government should lobby for lower tariffs on locally grown Cavendish banana among the country’s trading partners. In a statement, the Pilipino Banana Growers & Exporters Association Inc. warned that it may lose market share if the government fails to negotiate for tariff cuts in traditional exports…

The third batch of 71 Filipino nurses left for Japan yesterday to undergo intensive Japanese language training to further boost their chances of passing the country’s tough licensure examinations.

SOMETIME back in one of my previous columns, I wrote about Doing Business in Free Trade Areas, a program spearheaded by the DTI International Trade Group. The program is meant to educate business and raise people’s awareness of FTAs and how to take advantage of the opportunities from our free trade agreements. Studies showed that…

The government had started negotiations with the European Union (EU) for a free trade agreement at the sidelines of the recent 18th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Summit in Indonesia, Trade and Industry Secretary Gregory Domingo said.

THE US has advised the Philippines to address constitutional and legal restrictions, among other issues, in order to be part of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, Department of Trade and Industry Secretary Gregory Domingo said.

Nine Pacific nations including the United States are moving ahead on building a ambitious free trade zone, but few believe they will meet a self-imposed November (Berlin: NBXB.BE – news) deadline as criticism mounts.

The third batch of 82 Filipino nurses will leave for Japan on May 30 to undergo intensive Japanese language training to further boost their chances of passing the country’s tough licensure examinations.

MANILA, Philippines – The British government’s 2011 budget will provide a firm basis for increased business between the Philippines and the United Kingdom (UK), it was learned.

The India Asean FTA was signed in Bangkok on Aug 13, 2009, came into effect from Jan 1, 2010 Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, in association with industry body Ficci, has released a white paper on India-Asean Free Trade Agreement. Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) is a grouping of 10 countries including Singapore and Indonesia.…

IN November last year, marathon info sessions were held in key cities around the country to talk to manufacturers about the benefits they can derive from the free trade agreements inked with other countries. This was conducted in an effort to increase the level of utilization of these FTAs. After all, of what good are…

Calling the Philippines a “key emerging power in East Asia,” British Ambassador Stephen Lillie on Thursday relayed the United Kingdom’s optimism in strengthening bilateral trade with the Philippines as it did in the previous year.