RP urged to expand trade ties with ANZ

The Philippines should take advantage of the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement to improve the Philippines’ trade with Australia, Australian Trade Minister Simon Crean said yesterday.

In a speech yesterday morning before members of the Australia-New Zealand Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, Crean pointed out that two-way trade between the Philippines and Australia has “under-performed” in comparison to the two-way trade between Australia and ASEAN.

Two-way trade between Australia and ASEAN, Crean said, amounts to a whopping $71 billion.

Of that $71 billion, Crean noted, Philippines-Australia trade amounts to a mere $2.5 billion.

Crean pointed out that from 1997 to 2007, two-way trade between the two countries managed to grow by only 11 percent compared to the growth for ASEAN of 130 percent.

That slow growth, Crean said, came at a time when Australia was enjoying a period of economic prosperity.

Thus, Crean lamented, “it was a decade of missed opportunities” for the Philippines. With the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand FTA, Crean said the Philippines now has a new framework to pick up its trade with Australia.

He said the areas of opportunity for the Philippines include services – particularly education, food and agribusiness, and mining.

However, in the mining sector, Crean stressed the need for the Philippines to address the concerns of Australian investors with regards to the grant of mining licenses and permits and with the distribution of royalties and dividends.       — Marianne Go