Japan trade minister lauds Philippines efforts to lure investments

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine government’s efforts to draw in foreign investors and make sure the country’s business environment is conducive have received high marks from the Japanese trade and economic minister, his local counterpart said.

During his recent visit to Japan, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said he met with Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Hiroshige Seko to discuss various cooperation in multilateral trade agreements, industrial cooperation and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

“We agreed on the tangible and intangible gains of the recently concluded visits of President Duterte to Japan and Prime Minister Abe to the Philippines and expressed appreciation for the warm and generous hospitalities extended during said reciprocal visits by both heads of state,” Lopez said.

“Minister Seko also reported that the support of the Philippine government has been successful in luring more Japanese businesses into the country, citing among others DTI’s CARS program and the Comprehensive National Industrialization Strategy,” he added.

Since Abe’s visit to the Philippines in January, the DTI said there have been five Japanese trade and investment missions to the country.

Lopez said the agency is confident the Philippines is getting a growing and larger share of the small and medium Japanese enterprises migrating to other countries.

Meanwhile, Lopez said his Japanese counterpart also called for a “high quality RCEP” discussions during their meeting, especially in the face of the rising tide of worldwide protectionism and bilateralism.

“He (Seko) mentioned that RCEP’s success should not be dictated by the speed of negotiations but by the clear cut definition and collective agreement of rules as RCEP clearly will define and shape the future of free trade,” Lopez said.

“He also said that talks should concentrate not only on market access and trade in goods but high quality and ambitions on trade policy negotiations, global value chain production, e-commerce, anti-piracy, logistics and distribution and SME development,” the trade chief added.

RCEP is a free trade deal between the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea. The DTI is hoping to conclude negotiations of the RCEP this year in time with the country’s hosting of the 2017 ASEAN Summit.

“We assured the minister that the Philippines would continue to work with ASEAN member states in leading and bringing a high-quality RCEP to a successful conclusion by the end of ASEAN’s golden year,” Lopez said.

“Like Japan, the Philipines still sets it sights on a modern and comprehensive RCEP agreement that is commercially meaningful to Philippine businesses, especially the micro, small and medium enterprises. We said that its conclusion should not compromise the quality and level of ambition of the three pillars which forms the fundamental basis of RCEP-market access, rules, and technical cooperation,” he added.