Senior Deputy Majority Leader and Ilocos Norte First District Representative Ferdinand Alexander “Sandro” Marcos on Tuesday said the ratification of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement would help boost the local industries, particularly the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
In his sponsorship speech, Marcos said the trade deal’s ultimate goal of regional economic integration would be beneficial to MSMEs, as well as the electronic and borderless trade.
“The RCEP agreement is a manifestation of the member countries’ resolve to hasten the opening of markets, reinforce regional economic integration, commit to an inclusive and rules-based multilateral trading system, and most importantly, contribute to the world efforts of salvaging plummeting economies due to the Covid-19 pandemic,” Marcos said.
“The (economic) integration will strengthen the economic and equitable growth and development of each RCEP member country as RCEP continuously fine-tunes the mutually advantageous rules on trade, investment and regional supply chains,” he added.
Citing Trade and Industry Secretary Alfredo Pascual, Marcos said the tariff liberalization under the RCEP will make preferential market access easier for Philippine exporters, thereby allowing the country to capitalize on potential market gains.
The House of Representatives subsequently approved House Resolution 728 expressing its full support for the immediate ratification of the RCEP agreement.
According to the resolution, the immediate ratification of the RCEP Agreement would enable the Philippines to benefit sooner from the advantages of the mega trade deal that could attract more foreign investors, create more job opportunities, and curb the unemployment and poverty rates in the country.
The resolution is authored by Marcos, Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, Majority Leader Manuel Dalipe and Batangas Rep. Mario Vittorio Mariño.
It states that the Philippines on Nov. 15, 2021, signed the RCEP Agreement, a trade agreement covering the trade areas for goods, investments, services, sustainable growth and environment involving the 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its five free trade agreement (FTA) partners, namely Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand and the Republic of Korea.
The Department of Trade and Industry identified the benefits of the RCEP Agreement, as follows: cheaper cost for sourcing key inputs for the manufacturing sector; convenience for businesses in trading with key FTA partners; competitiveness for Philippine industries; and complementation of existing government programs.
“By immediately ratifying the RCEP Agreement, the Philippines can sooner benefit and take the advantages of this mega-trade deal that could attract more foreign investors, create more job opportunities, and curb the unemployment and poverty rates in the country,” Romualdez said.
Romualdez and the other authors said the benefits that the RCEP agreement will bring to the Philippines “far outweigh the risk, as it will promote greater openness, create a more business-friendly environment, encourage closer integration of economies, and provide a more stable and predictable rules-based system of trade”.
Design as the framework for economic and trade cooperation in the Asia Pacific Region, the RCEP integrates and optimizes the economic and trade rules, including the changing digital landscape that affects intellectual property rights, trade facilitation measures, electronic commerce, and cross-border trade.
The authors said the RCEP agreement will encourage foreign investments in the Philippines “and allow greater participation in the areas of digital services, business process outsourcing industry, financial services, aerospace, shipbuilding, research and development, and many others”. (PNA)
Photo credit: Philippine News Agency website