Ireland seeks increased trade with the Philippines

Ireland is keen on increasing its economic ties with the Philippines as firms in different sectors were interested in exporting to the country, an official said yesterday. “We are anxious to advance our economic partnership with the Philippines and I have discussed this with your department of budget and foreign affairs,” said Irish Minister for Public Expenditure Brendan Howlin in an interview after his lecture sponsored by the European Union (EU) Delegation in the Philippines Wednesday in the Mandarin Oriental Manila Hotel. “Some dairy companies in Ireland are already exporting and are looking for markets in the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) like the Philippines as this is a dynamic region,” Howlin added. Mr. Howlin however said Ireland is more likely to increase trade with the Philippines using the proposed EU- Philippines free-trade agreement (FTA) rather than negotiate a bilateral trade treaty. The Philippines and the EU are still in the early stages of developing the FTA. The Philippines and the EU can enter into an FTA after both parties signed a partnership agreement on July 11 last year. The partnership agreement is considered the first step of a possible free trade agreement which will be negotiated after the partnership agreement is enforced. The agreement will form the basis of a free trade agreement. Negotiations for the agreement first began on February 9, 2009. This is the first agreement between the Philippines and Europe since 1980. Mr. Howlin, the first minister to be appointed to the Public Expenditure and Reform department when it was formed at the height of the euro zone crisis, said Ireland has come out of the crisis and is ready to invest and receive investments in return. “The Irish economy is also growing again- not as fast as we would like, but despite low or negative growth in the economies of our key trading partners, our economy has still seen GDP growth of 1.4% in 2011, and of a projected 0.9% in 2012 and 1.5% this year,” said Mr. Howlin. He added Irish exports were leading the recovery and had grown “well-above that of the pre-crisis period.” — DVM, GMA News