PHL businesses hail RCEP ratification, urge to ma e goo use of tra e eal benefits

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A As the country finally ratified the egional Co prehensive cono ic Partnership C P after years of negotiations, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Alfredo Pascual encouraged Philippine-based businesses to ta e advantage of the enefits of the new trade pact.

Pascual said that the i pacts of C P depend on how immediate businesses ill act follo ing its ratification ore than that, I thin investors that are eyeing the Philippines as production hub will now be implementing their intentions and plans to set up manufacturing hubs in the Philippines and making their investments in our country,” Pascual added.

Following Senate’s concurrence with the ratification of C P on uesday evening, the Philippines will deposit its instru ent of ratification to the Association of outheast Asian ations A A Secretariat.

C P ill enter into force days after the receipt of deposit of the instrument of ratification e really ant to co unicate to our business community and the people in general that this C P ust provides the enabling environment. How we behave given the new favorable environment will deter ine to hat e tent e can enefit from it. The government cannot regulate or order this. (But) we make sure that the environment is there,” Pascual said.

As Philippine-based businesses are anticipating the country’s participation to C P, the I chief said they have een preparing for the increased competition and have been planning how to take advantage of the new free trade agreement.

In a separate statement, National cono ic and evelop ent Authority A ecretary Arsenio alisacan said the ratification of C P strengthens the Philippines’ position as an investment hu in A A ith the country s participation to C P, the Philippines has no further strengthened its position as an ideal in- vest ent hu in the region as e e pand market access, facilitate trade and align our rules and procedures with participating economies,” he said.

Balisacan said this is in line with the overall targets of the Marcos administration’s medium-term plan of creating higher quality, resilient and sustainable o s to achieve poverty reduction y attracting investments and boosting business e pansions ith the strong support of Congress, yesterday s concurrence to the C P Agreement is a testament to the government’s commitment to creating an environment conducive for trade and investents that are catalysts for o creation, skills development, and technology transfer as we seek to transform the Philippine econo y in the ne t si years, he added

The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), the Makati Business Club (MBC) and the Confederation of eara le porters of the Philippines Con ep also e pressed their gratitude to the Senate members for concurring ith the C P ratification

It s a good develop ent for our country’s economic trade opportunities. Certain products are given conditionalities to avoid negative impact to local producers,” PCCI president George Barcelon said.

C e ecutive director rancisco Alcuaz Jr. said the business group is confident that C P ill accelerate o generation and economic recovery and will promote inclusive growth.

Alcuaz said the Senate’s decision to favor the country s participation to C P is a clear signal that the Philippines is open for usiness and o s e congratulate the enate, President (Ferdinand) Marcos, DTI Sec. Pascual, former DTI Sec. Ramon Lopez, and the rest of the cono ic cluster for taing another step to open foreign markets for Philippine businesses while improving the uality and a orda ility of local goods and services,” he added.

PHL seen to weather possible global recession

MAKATI CITY – The Philippine government’s push to increase its infrastructure spending and the recovery of the manufacturing sector, among others, are e pected to uoy the do estic econo y from the impact of the possible recession in the United States.

According to February issue of he ar et Call, the oint onthly pu lication of the First Metro Investment Corporation (FIMC) and the University of Asia and the Pacific A P , ost recent economic data suggest that the Philippine economy may weather the global recession relatively unscathed.”

It said while employment may grow slower in the near term, with the December level up by 4.3 percent from the previous onth s percent, total anhours (MH) of work slightly increased to

1.98 billion MH from 1.97-B MH in November.” his gain o set the , drop in total employment to million, a close second to the all-time record level of 49.7 million achieved a month ago,” it added.

The report cited the decline in unemployment rate last December to 12.6 percent from the previous month’s 14.4 percent.

The manufacturing sector grew faster last January, with the Purchasing Managers Inde P I up at fro in the previous month.

The report cited the drop in the level of the government’s total liabilities by the end of to P13.4 trillion, lower by around P2 billion compared to the November level.