THE Makati Business Club (MBC) on Tuesday urged members of the Senate to ratify the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) which the business group said could help businesses expand abroad and accelerate job creation, among others.
“We believe joining RCEP is essential to this, as it will comprise 15 countries, 2.1 billion people, and around 30 percent of global [gross domestic product] GDP,” MBC said in a statement on Tuesday.
While the regional trade deal would help the Philippines enter foreign markets, the local business group said it would also “expose” the country’s local industries to more competition at home.
“We recognize that there are valid concerns about this. However, we believe that adequate safeguards have been included,” the local business group said, adding that they believe competition will result in “better local players and better products and services for Filipinos.”
The local business group said it welcomes the effort that the Administration, especially Trade Secretary Alfredo E. Pascual and the DTI have exerted to further RCEP.
With this, MBC is encouraging the Senate to give it “positive consideration.”
Apart from MBC, other local business groups that have recently joined the call for the Senate to ratify the regional trade deal are Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) and Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI).
Sergio Ortiz-Luis, president of ECOP, said that “among our ASEAN neighbors, we are at the tail end.”
He said ratification by the Senate, which was reported to have set the voting on Tuesday, “will bring us competitive with others, at least to a certain degree.We can’t afford not to have trade agreements and, at the same time, to not be part of it,” he said.
Meanwhile, the PCCI called on the Senate anew to ratify the regional trade pact, which it said will play a “key role” in sustaining the Philippines’s “growth trajectory.”
In a letter to Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, PCCI President George T. Barcelon said RCEP will “provide unparalleled opportunities for Philippine businesses and prime the country for further economic growth and development.”
The PCCI head also cited the consequences of not participating in the regional trade deal, including putting the country’s exports at a disadvantage considering RCEP’s “growing area.”
Further, he said not joining will be “detrimental to our goal to bring in foreign investments as investors would rather look at an RCEP signatory country to obtain preferential treatments among the RCEP countries.”
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