PCCI Urges Senate to Ratify RCEP

The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) is pushing the Senate to ratify the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and said that this would give “unparalleled opportunities for Philippine businesses and prime the country for further economic growth and development.” 

The PCCI released a statement saying that it had presented a letter to Senate President Juan Miguel F. Zubiri requesting the ratification of RCEP ratification for the business industry to maximize the opportunities presented by the free trade agreement (FTA).

PCCI President George T. Barcelon has said that “We cannot afford to miss out on the RCEP. Non-joining will disadvantage our exports in the world’s fastest-growing area. Furthermore, it is detrimental to our goal to bring in foreign investments as investors would rather look at an RCEP signatory country to obtain preferential treatment among the RCEP countries,”

He then mentions that the government should guarantee safeguards to tackle issues in the agriculture industry.

“Countries which have ratified the RCEP agreement are already seeing increases in their overall trade in just one year after its entry into force in early 2022,”  says Barcelon.

The RCEP comprises 10 member countries hailing from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), South Korea, New Zealand, Japan, China, and Australia. This plans on opening trade and removing over 90% of tariffs from the involved economies while other tariffs would be slowly lessened in the next 20 years.

Back in September 2021, the RCEP was ratified by then-President Rodrigo R. Duterte. However, during this time, the previous Senate did not give concurrence because of their apprehension of the deal’s effects on the agriculture industry.

Source: Business World