ISDS Case Map
Philippines
Although both governments said at its signing that the agreement would be positive for both Japan and the Philippines in terms of trade and investment, the pact is actually lopsided in favor of the more powerful Japanese economic interests.
The Philippine government and EFTA (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland) will sign a Joint Declaration on Cooperation on 23 June, setting the stage for negotiations on a free trade agreement.
Billionaire Anthoni Salim’s First Pacific Co. is seeking to buy sugar companies in the Philippines to expand its footprint in Southeast Asia and tap opportunities from a free-trade agreement in the region.
The Philippines is set to undertake a study on the impact of a free-trade agreement with a European economic bloc as the country is scheduled to sign a declaration of economic cooperation with the European Free-Trade Association ministers this June.
The Philippine government will continue to sort out the trade concerns raised by the Japanese government during the eighth meeting of the subcommittee on the Improvement of Business Environment under the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (Jpepa).
A trade pact between the Philippines and the European Union (EU) should be signed before 2016, businessmen yesterday said, else the country risk being left behind by Southeast Asian neighbors that are negotiating similar agreements.
European businessmen back the government’s plan to conclude the scoping for the free trade agreement between the European Union and the Philippines by the end of the year .
Bayan is coordinating with various anti-bases and anti-globalization groups in Japan, South Korea and the United States for a series of protests against the US pivot and the TPPA.
Manila is strongly supporting the proposed Asean-Hong Kong free-trade agreement (FTA) as this would further ease the flow of trade between China and the Philippines.
A group composed of top Filipino and American business leaders would help lobby for the Philippines’ inclusion in the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal, on top of initiatives to attract more American investors into the country, the Philippine envoy to Washington said.
