Negotiations with UAE on CEPA enter homestretch

THE PHILIPPINES and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are in the final stages of negotiations for a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said.

“We are almost there, and then we should be able to get things done,” Trade Secretary Ma. Cristina A. Roque said.

“But of course, just like every negotiation, there’s going to be back and forth because it needs to be win-win for both countries,” she added.

Asked for an updated timeline, she said the goal is to conclude the CEPA negotiations next year.

“Definitely not this year. I can’t really say exactly when, but we’re just ironing out a little bit because we just started four months ago,” she said.

“Negotiations do not happen overnight; sometimes it takes years. But of course, we will try to move quickly,” she added.

She said she remains confident that investments from the Middle East will continue to flow. 

“It is not necessarily that with no CEPA, no investments will come in. Other investors want to come in because we also have the CREATE MORE,” she said, citing the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises to Maximize Opportunities for Reinvigorating the Economy Act.

“And we also have other incentives. So it’s not necessarily all just dependent on a free trade agreement (FTA) or on a CEPA,” she added.

The DTI has said that the Philippines was hoping to conclude negotiations for a CEPA within 2024. When asked about the delay, Ms. Roque said both sides are hoping the deal will cover a long list of products.

“Actually, there’s really no delay. It’s just that there are many products that we want to export to them … and they want to export also to us,” she said. — Justine Irish D. Tabile