By Justine Irish D. Tabile, A reporter
Canada and the Philippines will start exploratory talks on bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) during the first half of 2025, officials said.
Mary Ng, Canada’s minister of export promotion, international trade, and economic development, said the FTA is not only important for Canadian businesses but also for Filipino businesses.
“The important reason is because businesses are always looking for things to happen. FTAs give us the rules of engagement, and I look forward to those discussions, and we’re launching exploratory discussions right away,” he said at the Team Canada Trade Mission Plenary Session.
“I believe that the groups will meet at the beginning of the new year. It’s already December, so the new year is only a month away,” he added.
In a joint statement on Thursday, Canada and the Philippines said they intend to meet in the first round of exploratory talks on the first phase of the 2025 Canada-Philippines comprehensive FTA.
Asked how long negotiations for FTAs between the two countries usually take, Ms. Ng said that Canada has recently completed negotiations for a comprehensive economic relationship with Indonesia, which took just over three years.
He said Canada and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) were also working to negotiate an FTA.
“The Philippines is part of it, so I actually think there’s really good work that’s already been done with the Canada-ASEAN table that we can build on, hopefully quickly and easily,” said Ms. Ng.
Mrs. Ng also discussed the proposed ASEAN-Canada FTA (ACAFTA) during a meeting with Special Assistant to the President for Investment and Economic Affairs Frederick D. Go and Department of Trade and Industry Secretary Ma. Cristina A. Roque on Wednesday.
Established in November 2021, ACAFTA includes market access for goods, services, and investment, e-commerce, intellectual property rights, and support for micro, small and medium enterprises.
Canadian Embassy High Commissioner for Trade Guy Boileau previously said that ACAFTA negotiations are expected to be completed next year.
“Currently, Canada is an important trade partner of the Philippines. Canada is currently ranked 20thth between many countries, and we need to pump this up,” said Mr. Go.
“And I really hope that with your visit to the Philippines, this number will only increase. And I hope that maybe before the end of this administration, we should meet again and you are 10 of usth trade partner,” he added.
According to Ms. Ng, Philippines-Canada bilateral trade is currently worth about 5.6 billion dollars – 3 billion dollars in trade in goods and 2.6 billion dollars in services.
COMMERCIAL WORK
Mrs. Ng is in the Philippines to lead the Team Canada Trade Mission, which includes 300 delegates from 200 Canadian companies and business groups.
“We have a strong team of over 300 Canadian participants, and they are joined by 400 Filipino business leaders, and together they are looking to build new relationships and new collaborations,” he said.
Among the deals closed during the trading session is Kickstart Ventures’ investment in a Canadian artificial intelligence (AI) company called Lydia AI, which seeks to expand insurance access across Southeast Asia.
The Philippine Department of Budget and Management also signed a major contract with Canadian FreeBalance to improve the department’s financial management systems.
Export Development Canada also opened an office in the Philippines, making it the first foreign credit agency from the Group of Seven. country to establish a presence in the Philippines.
An administrative agreement under Canada’s Nuclear Cooperation Agreement with the Philippines will also be signed late Thursday.
“This will build on our work in the region through the Trade Gateway for Nuclear Development for the Indo-Pacific that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently announced,” said Ms. Ng. “As a Tier 1 nuclear nation, Canada is in a position to support the energy security goals of the Philippines with our expertise throughout the nuclear supply chain.”
He also said that other companies have announced plans to put a institution or office in the Philippines, such as OpenText, Ostrom Climate, and Maple Leaf Foods.
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