Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos on Thursday pushed for resumption of negotiations for a Philippine-European Union (EU) free trade agreement (FTA), saying his country is ready to comply with “vital international obligations” as determined by the European bloc.
“I believe that we can all agree that the timing and conditions are now quite ripe for us to solidify the long-standing and historically beneficial trade relations through a bilateral Philippine-EU Free Trade Agreement,” Marcos said during a dinner with a delegation of European business leaders.
Marcos stressed that a bilateral FTA will be a win-win strategy for the Philippines and the EU, calling on some European chambers of commerce in the Southeast Asian country to “actively advocate” to help move the initiative to a favorable conclusion.
“It could very well be the capstone of all efforts to strengthen Philippine and EU relations over the next decades,” Marcos said.
The first round of the bilateral FTA negotiations took place in June 2016 in the Philippines.