The majority of economic priority deliverables have been successfully achieved with the Philippine chairmanship of the ASEAN Summit, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said in a statement.
“That’s why we consider the Philippines 2017 ASEAN Chairmanship a tremendous success as it was achieved through the concerted efforts of the 10 ASEAN Member States (AMS) and continuous open dialogue and cooperation with external partners,” Lopez, also the 2017 ASEAN Economic Ministers (AEM) chair, said.
“These developments are expected to later help generate greater trade and investment engagement for the Philippines which in turn would help create opportunities jobs and employment for Filipinos,” he said, as reported by Trade Undersecretary Ceferino Rodolfo.
He announced that the following strategic measures were delivered:
- The completion of the Focused and Strategic (FAST) Action Agenda on Investment, which aligns with the goals and four pillars of the ASEAN Comprehensive Investment Agreement (ACIA), namely investment promotion, facilitation, protection, and liberalization. Under this was the conduct of the “Linking ASEAN MSMEs with Global and ASEAN MSMEs” event on 19 October 2017, which brought together various companies and provided them with the opportunity to interact and start initial discussions on possible future cooperation/joint ventures. We hope to be replicate and sustain this if we are to really attain inclusive and sustainable growth.
- The successful conduct of the first full country visit in the Philippines on 09 – 13 October 2017, which is a crucial component of the AEC 2025 M&E Framework. This exercise ensures that policies are facilitative and contributes to the on-going regional integration efforts.
- The adoption of the ASEAN Seamless Trade Facilitation Indicators (ASTFI) by the ASEAN Economic Ministers (AEM) in September 2017. This was primarily built to assist AMS in their efforts to design and implement trade facilitation policies, regulations, and procedures, and is not intended to be a legally-binding document. This is expected to facilitate the goal of increasing intra-regional trade between the period 2017 and 2025, to be complemented by the agreement among member states to reduce transaction cost by 10% by 2020.
- The Operationalization of the ASEAN RO-RO (Roll-On, Roll-Off) connecting Davao-General Santos to Bitung, which was launched on 30 April 2017 and supports the region’s efforts towards pursuing integration, enhancing connectivity, expanding trade and investment opportunities, and developing MSMEs and the sub-regions.
- The development of the ASEAN Inclusive Business Framework (AIBF) to promote Inclusive Business in ASEAN, which was endorsed at the 49th ASEAN Economic Ministers Meeting in September 2017. This aims to contribute towards achieving the AEC 2025 Vision of a resilient, inclusive, and people-oriented and people-centered community. By providing a platform for MSMEs to be integrated in the regional and global value chains, we can establish strong linkage and cooperation between big and small enterprises.
- The adoption of the ASEAN Work Programme on Electronic Commerce (AWPEC) 2017-2025 in September 2017 by the AEM. This will provide ASEAN the framework for increasing participation of the MSMEs in the regional and global economic activities, especially with the lowering of trade barriers and operating costs of businesses given the current technological and digital advances.
The Summit is also expected to deliver the following, authorities said:
- The adoption by the ASEAN Leaders of the Action Agenda on Mainstreaming Women’s Economic Empowerment in ASEAN, which is part of the Manila Statement on Mainstreaming Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) in ASEAN. This helps provide various opportunities for women as it encourages all ASEAN countries to work together by investing in programs that provide an enabling environment where MSMEs can thrive and prosper.
- The ASEAN Declaration on Innovation, which will be one of the outcome documents that will be adopted at the 31st ASEAN Summit. The Declaration aims to build an ecosystem of technology- and innovation-based entrepreneurship, and establish stronger cooperation among Member-States to enhance our regional competitiveness in innovation through closer collaboration in Science, Technology, and Innovation, and Research and Development.
Outstanding deliverables include:
- The substantial conclusion of the discussions on the Region-Wide Self- Certification Scheme this year, which is targeted to be fully implemented by 2018. This simplified and streamlined procedure would allow businesses, especially our MSMEs, to maximize the opportunities presented by the ATIGA and the various FTAs that ASEAN is party to; therefore, providing them with brighter prospects to participate in the regional and global value chains.
- The substantial conclusion of the ASEAN Trade in Services Agreement (ATISA) this year, which would further facilitate trade in services integration in the region through deepened commitments and increased transparency;
- The substantial conclusion of Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), however, still remains a goal. Notwithstanding, significant progress in the on-going negotiations has been achieved with the finalization of the scope of the RCEP Key Elements for Significant Outcomes by end of 2017 and the Collective Assessment Report. In view of the large potential of the RCEP to promote global trade and growth, we will remain deeply committed to swiftly and successfully achieving a modern, comprehensive, high-quality and mutually- beneficial RCEP agreement that will redound to increased job generation, and sustainable, inclusive, and innovation-oriented growth On top of these, the Philippines has been able to also shepherd the conclusion of key negotiations that are already under discussions even prior to our hosting year, and commenced discussions with external partners with a view to strengthen and deepen trade and economic relations.
- The ASEAN-Hong Kong, China Free Trade Agreement (AHKFTA) and the ASEAN-Hong Kong Investment Agreement (AHKIA), which was signed 12 November 2017.
- This year also further intensified the resolve between ASEAN and its Dialogue partners to deepen engagements through the enhancement of existing free trade agreements (FTAs) that are expected to generate new openings for business opportunities, especially for the MSMEs. These include ASEAN-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership (AJCEPA), ASEAN-Korea FTA (AKFTA) ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand FTA (AANZFTA), and ASEAN-India FTA (AIFTA). The Stage 1 of the AANZFTA General Review was completed this year. Negotiations on improving market access under the AKFTA are ongoing, which will provide lower tariffs for Philippine exports of tropical fruits and agricultural goods to Korea.
- In a bid to deepen its relationship with its external partners, and provide more opportunities for our peoples, ASEAN continuous to embark on discussions for possible FTAs, which include those initial talks and exercises undertaken with Canada, European Union, and Russia in the past months. For Canada, in particular, ASEAN has embarked on a Joint Feasibility Study, which is still a work in progress, and have agreed on the conduct of exploratory discussions to further assess the merits for such a proposal. Meanwhile, ASEAN and EU have resumed initial talks to discuss the proposal for a region-to-region FTA, which was stalled back in 2009. Lastly, an FTA with Russia is being explored as a region-to-region FTA between ASEAN and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), with information-sharing and confidence building activities as stepping stones to possible more formal FTA talks.
- Another development is the scheduled convening of the first RCEP Summit on 14 November 2017. This unprecedented level of engagement is very telling of the importance and gravity of the said regional grouping in terms of the perceived benefits that come with it, and its capacity to drive economic sustainability for years to come. This Meeting sends a strong signal to the world of the importance of the continued importance of cooperation among countries if we are to realize areas of common interests, contrary to growing prominence of protectionism and anti-globalization sentiments worldwide. We expect that during this Meeting, Leaders will have fruitful exchanges among them and provide mandate to push the negotiations forward towards the ultimate goal of concluding it.
