The British Chamber of Commerce Philippines (BCCP) sees no immediate need for a separate free trade agreement (FTA) between Manila and London.
Chris Nelson, BCCP vice chairman, made the pronouncement amid the Philippines’ potential accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
Nelson noted that FTAs take around three years to negotiate owing to their technical requirements and limited negotiating resources.
‘FTAs take a long time to negotiate because it’s very technical and you have to cover a lot of different areas,’ Nelson recently told reporters.
The Philippines should instead focus on existing mechanisms, such as the CPTPP, UK-Philippines Joint Economic and Trade Committee (Jerco), and Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).
‘But if you pass further legislation, that then encourages companies to come,’ Nelson said.
The BCCP urged the government for the passage of Cybersecurity Act, Digital Payments Act, Open Finance Act, and Blue Economy Act.
‘There’ll be cybersecurity companies who wish to do business here. If you pass the Open Finance Act, that will boost your consumer market,’ he said.
‘I don’t think we’ll go to FTA. But I think CPTPP, as long as it’s done properly, will certainly help in terms of trade with UK.’
Earlier, the Philippines is looking beyond its current tariff preferences with the UK, seeing its application to join the CPTPP as a potential route to deeper access to the British market.