THE PHILIPPINES will use the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings to find out more about joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) when signatories of the trade bloc come to Manila this month for the annual summit.

“I will find out more in November,” said Gregory L. Domingo, secretary of the Department of Trade and Industy (DTI).

“We have informed the US that we are very much interested in joining TPP,” he added during the membership meeting of the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines last week.

All 12 TPP members -- Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam -- are also among the 21 economies making up APEC. They are said to make up around 40% of the global economy and 30% of world trade. Collectively, they could create a Pacific economic bloc that could rival the size of China.

For the Philippines, TPP is a “significant component” of its international trade strategy, which it had been implementing over the past four years, the Trade department had said.

The TPP’s trade pact includes provisions to lower trade barriers in services and remove foreign investment barriers. It also seeks to reduce tariffs on goods trade, and sets common minimum standards for labor markets and environmental protections.

“We are at the door... we are there waiting,” Mr. Domingo said, adding that TPP members would want to come to agreement on accepting new members.

Adrian S. Cristobal, Jr., DTI undersecretary, has said that the Philippines held technical discussions with Malaysia, the US, New Zealand, Australia, Mexico and Canada, and that it would “soon” initiate the same talks with Japan, Peru, Chile, Singapore, Brunei and Vietnam.

“We also asked the TPP members regarding their policy on admitting new members,” Mr. Cristobal had said. “From all indications, the 12 TPP members have been supportive of our desire to join.”

He had said that to become part of the TPP, the Philippines would need an endorsement from the parties of the trade agreement.

But even before the trade deal, Mr. Domingo said that the Philippines has been gaining ground in talks with other trading partners.

He cited a recent trip to France where he had met with the French Minister of State for Foreign Trade Mathias Fekl to reconvene the Philippines-France Joint Economic Committee, which has been active for the past 12 years.

Mr. Domingo also said that the country had been pursuing trade partnerships with the European Union (EU) and had been given beneficiary country status under the EU Generalized System of Preferences Plus. That status gave the Philippines tariff-free exports for more than 6,000 products.

“The product lines were granted without anything in exchange,” he said.

“There is so much interest in doing business in and with the Philippines, most notable is the EU,” he said. “We are now on high standing with most EU nations in terms of their interest.”

He told members of the American business chamber that outside of services: “US companies don’t seem to focus too much on the Philippines, particularly in manufacturing.”

“I don’t know if their attention is diverted because US capital is being poured into start-ups,” he said, adding that he could not put a finger on why interest from US companies is so low.

The trade developments come as Mr. Domingo enters his last two months as DTI secretary. He submitted his resignation in
September, without giving a specific reason for leaving.

He said he was hopeful that his replacement would come from inside the department “so there should not be significant transition efforts because those in DTI already know the programs.”

He said Malacañang typically appoints someone who is pro-business. “I am hoping it will not change,” he said.

Source : BusinessWorld