RP, Japan meet anew to set up framework for economic ties

The joint coordinating team (JCT) of the Japan Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) conducted two days of meeting in Manila with accounting of possible mutual gains once the proposed trade pact is signed officially.

Trade and Industry Secretary Manuel Roxas II said the meeting in mid-November was the second in a series of deliberations set by JCT, composed of government officials and with the participation of the private sectors of both countries, in order to create the framework for the proposed economic partnership.

"The result of the second JCT meeting will also form the basis for an executive report to be submitted to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, the leaders of the two countries, during the ASEAN-Japan Commemorative Summit in Tokyo next week," Roxas reported. "On the report hangs the decision to proceed to the next stage of the engagement – the actual official negotiations for the free trade agreement and other components of the JPEPA," he added.

Roxas reported that in these meetings, the Philippine and Japan panels deliberated on the minute details of 21 points of possible cooperation being proposed – a broad sweep that hangs from the most sensitive such as agriculture and intellectual property rights to crucial ones, such as trade and investment up to problematic areas, such as movement of natural persons and human resources and others such as broadcasting.

"The two sides believe that this report will constitute a reasonable basis for the leaders to decide when to take the engagement to the next phase, which is the official negotiations stage. We hope that it can be as soon as next year," DTI Undersecretary for International Trade Thomas G. Aquino said.

"Bilateral cooperation is a painstaking process, and the deliberations test the willingness of the two parties to allow the give and take spirit to take hold and seal the partnership," Aquino reported.

Aquino said the second JCT meeting was "fruitful," noting the presentations of think-tanks from both countries. "The studies pointed to net gains for both parties, should the two countries sign the JPEPA. At the same time, we took note of the downside possibilities and sensitive issues that the two countries will have to manage well so that no constituent sectors are unnecessarily disadvantaged once JPEPA is realized," Aquino added.

His counterpart, director Naoki Ito of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, also expressed satisfaction over the results of the second JCT.

A study conducted by the Philippine Institute of Development Studies (PIDS), led by the Dr. Erlinda Medalla, in cooperation with the Philippine APEC Study Center Network, pointed out the net gains for both countries from the point of view of the Philippines.

The findings indicated that the Philippines would enjoy slight improvements in the GDP growth, trade and domestic prices. The study also suggested that there would be a positive poverty alleviation effect, which would be slight in the rural areas but more pronounced in the National Capital Region, including CALABARZON. The Japanese economic experts noted that these findings were fairly consistent with their independent study.