RP won’t ease invesment policies, says Purisima

The Philippines won’t ease its investment and government procurement policies unless government resolves legal and constitutional restrictions first.

This was conveyed recently by Trade and Industry Secretary Cesar V. Purisima to European Union Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy during a meeting in Indonesia last month.

Purisima said the issue of liberalizing investment and government procurement policies is not a trade issue for the Philippines but a legal one.

Under the Philippine Constitution, Purisima said, there are stipulated foreign ownership levels.

Even in government procurement rules, Purisima said, there are also restrictions.

Lamy has been trying to convince ASEAN member countries to restart the stalled World Trade Organization (WTO) talks which had collapsed last year due to differences over agricultural subsidies and the so-called Singapore Ministerial Conference (SMC) issues.

The Singapore issues involve calls for liberalization on trade facilitation, government procurement, competition and investments.

Purisima reported that Lamy had indicated that the EU is willing to put the so-called Singapore issues on the back-burner as a concession to getting back WTO members to the negotiating table.

Purisima assured Lamy that the Philippines is willing to restart the WTO talks as long as the Singapore issues are set aside and the EU and the United States agree to move on contentious agricultural issues.

Developing countries have been asking the EU and the US to remove their agricultural subsidies even as the US and the EU continue to push for more market access.

The WTO talks collapsed last year after the developed countries led by the US, EU and Japan were able to push for accelerated discussions on the so-called SMC issues and an accelerated formula for agricultural market liberalization, while remaining silent on the removal of agricultural subsidies.