RP, EU to sign partnership deal in June

MANILA, Philippines - The Partnership Cooperation Agreement (PCA) between the Philippines and the European Union is expected to be signed in June paving the way for a better trade relation between the country and the EU.

In a text message, Trade Secretary Jesli A. Lapus said the stalemate between the Philippines and EU was resolved Monday night.

 “EU agreed to accept the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) proposal. We therefore expect the next seventh round in June to be the final one,” Lapus said.

Lapus refused to elaborate on the intellectual property issues saying only “we might have to amend the law and we cannot commit that right now.”

He said the PCA is a precursor to the Free Trade Agreement (FTA). He said the FTA with EU will be completed within the year.

With the PCA in place, Lapus said there will be growth in the trade. “The potential for growth is very big. You can talk double digit because our capacity is very big.”

However, Lapus said the EU is still insisting on relaxing our foreign ownership restrictions. Under the constitution, foreigners are not allowed full ownership of land in the Philippines.

 “We are looking at ways to relax but only in the energy sector,” Lapus said. He noted that the German technology is foremost in renewable energy and they are hesitant in investing big amount in the Philippines because of the 60-40 rule.

Meanwhile, the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) is doubling its efforts at bringing European expertise and technology into the country through a revamp of its European IT Service Center (EITSC).

The EITSC, an initiative established by the ECCP in 2002, will now be known as the European Innovation, Technology, and Science Center and will expand its work beyond assisting enterprises in the information technology (IT) and business process outsourcing (BPO) industries.

Under its new mandate, the EITSC is now tasked to provide trainings and consultancies on energy efficiency, sustainable environment, global health, materials solutions, and food security to local companies.

The EITSC will be bringing into the country leading European companies and experts to provide training and consultancies to officials and staffs of local companies. At the same time, it will create a pool of local experts, who are authorities in their industries, to assist them in the delivery of their services.