ISDS Case Map
Philippines
The Philippines and South Korea are drafting a framework of agreement for the proposed free trade area in time for the visit of South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun to the Philippines in December this year.
The Philippines hopes to secure a deal with Japan by next month on the proposed free trade agreement.
The Philippines will push for a provision in a planned free-trade deal with Japan that would allow renegotiation on motor vehicle tariffs by 2009.
The Fair Trade Alliance blames the Philippine government's trade commitments to the General Agreement on Tariffs Trade, the World Trade Organization and bilateral trade pacts for the problems facing the domestic vegetable industry.
Taiwan and the Philippines can benefit from a free trade agreement that is currently being negotiated by both countries, as it would help boost two-way trade and encourage more investments from the Taiwanese, said David Hong, president of Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER), yesterday.
In a recent round table discussion sponsored by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies, the service industries - specifically the telecommunication and the finance sectors - were tackled as two of the crucial areas where the Philippines can have the best potential if the FTA agreement with the US pushes through.
The Philippine government is pushing for a sector specific free trade agreement (FTA) with the US starting off with the garments sector to immediately take advantage of a duty-free privilege for garment exports and strengthen its presence in the US, the country's biggest garment market.
The Philippines cannot hope for a “mutually-beneficial” relationship with the US through a free trade agreement founded on the US neocolonial agenda.
The number of Filipino nurses and caregivers who will be allowed to enter Tokyo under the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) remains to be among the contentious issues preventing both parties from sealing a bilateral accord.
The feared "demise" of the Benguet vegetable industry due to the free trade agreement looms. Growers expressed this fear when vegetables from Benguet were not excluded from the Early Harvest Program (EHP) signed by the Chinese and Philippine governments.
