DTI expects Senate ratification of RCEP by next month

BANGKOK, Thailand — The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) over the weekend said it is optimistic that the Philippine Senate would ratify the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) by December.

In an interview, Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual said the free trade agreement (FTA) would hopefully be finalized by lawmakers within 2022 after years of negotiations.

“We hope to see the ratification of RCEP by the Senate by the end of the year, hopefully,” he told GMA News Online on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit here.

READ: The Philippines and RCEP negotiations

The DTI earlier said it expects the RCEP to boost the country’s exports by 10.47%, and bring the real gross domestic product (GDP) up by 2.02%.

The FTA was first floated in August 2012, among members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its partners Australia, China, Japan, South Korea, and New Zealand.

Just last week the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) urged the Senate to ratify the trade deal, saying that the country “cannot afford” not being part of the deal.

This comes as RCEP would cover 50% of the global manufacturing output, 50% of the global automotive output, 70% of electronics, and 26% of the global value chain (GVC) on trade volume.

It would also cover 60% GVC for electrical or machinery, petroleum or chemicals, textiles or apparel, metal, and transport equipment; and 35% of the contribution to global exports of electronics and machineries.

“We have already lost 10 months of [our] ability to compete on [an] equal footing with our ASEAN and Asian partners already in RCEP in attracting foreign investments as they capitalize on the shift by a number of MNCs (multinational companies) to seek alternative locations for their manufacturing sites,” the MAP said.

For his part, Senate President Juan Miguel “Migs” Zubiri said the economic managers of the Marcos administration have yet to formally endorse the RCEP for the Senate’s concurrence. —LBG, GMA Integrated News