Strengthening Phl - France economic ties

The Philippines and France continue to work to strengthen economic ties following the recently concluded 11th meeting of the PhIFrance Joint Economic Committee and the Philippine Economic Dialogue here last Nov. 4.

- MARIANNE GO

Established in 1994, the JEC is the Philippines longest running bilateral economic and trade dialogue with France, and is held every 18 months, with the last meeting held in Paris.

French Ambassador Marie Fontanel said on the sidelines of the two-day 28th French Film Festival held last week at the SMX Aura, that the JEC is “a regular occasion to assess and review all our economic cooperation between France and the Philippines.”

The Manila meeting was headed by DTI Undersecretary Allan Gepty, and according to Ambassador Fontanel, Gepty pointed out that France represents the 19th commercial partner for the Philippines, “meaning we are present, but the potential is still very important, so we can do more in terms of trade between our two countries.”

Trade negotiations, however, she explained, are “a competence delegated to the European Union, and the good news is, we are negotiating a free trade agreement between the European Union and the Philippines which could definitely boost opportunities for French and European companies in the country.”

The PhI-EU FTA negotiations had been suspended after 2017, during the term of former President Rodrigo Duterte, over the government's war on drugs. Negotiations resumed in March 2024.

According to Ambassador Fontanel, the talks are proceeding, but reaching an agreement could still take a “couple of years.”

“It has been resumed one year ago and it’s already the 4th round of negotiation. So it’s going well between Brussels and Manila... both parties seem confident that it could be an achievement in the coming, maybe, couple of years... depending on the discussion.”