Full-Blown RP-Taiwan FTA Mulled

A full-blown free trade agreement (FTA) between the Philippines and Taiwan is being explored abandoning an earlier proposal to create a special economic corridor that would include only Subic and Clark freeport zones and Kaohsiung. MECO president and CEO Amadeo Perez Jr. told reporters a feasibility study for the crafting of the Philippines-Taiwan Economic Cooperation Agreement (ECA), which is being conducted by government think-tank Philippine Institute of Development Studies (PIDS), will be finished in March this year. The study will determine the parameters of the planned RP-Taiwan ECA that could lead to the establishment of a comprehensive bilateral FTA between the two economies. Taiwan is also conducting a parallel feasibility study, Perez said. MECO and its counterpart the Taipei Economic Cultural Office (TECO) would be the vehicles of the two economies and would sign the agreement, if ever there will be an agreement. According to Perez, both parties have decided to abandon the earlier Subic-Kaoshiung economic corridor plan because its scope was very limited. Perez said that Taiwanese businessmen want flexibility on where they want to invest and most of them prefer to invest in areas that are close to ports like Batangas and Manila. Taiwanese firms also noted that there are only few ships that call on the Subic port compared to Batangas and Manila. Talks for the establishment of the proposed Subic-Clark-Kaohsiung Economic Corridor started almost a decade ago with both parties already being close to signing the agreement during the 13th Philippines-Taiwan Joint Economic Conference (JEC) in December 2005. The proposal, however, did not materialize.