PH-Chile accord enters final stage with April target

The next series of talks, to be held in Manila, is expected to be the final round.

- By DEXTER BARRO II

anila is expecting to finalize a free trade agreement with Santiago de Chile by next month as the Marcos administration intensifies its pursuit to widen the country’s access to global markets, according to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

Trade Undersecretary Allan Gepty said the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with Chile, which would be the country’s first FTA with a Latin American country, is nearing completion.

“We’re almost there, so we hope to conclude the negotiations hopefully by next month. We’re just finalizing some few items,” he told reporters last week.

Gepty said he is confident that the talks for the trade deal would end next month since “there is no major issue that can hinder the conclusion of the negotiations.”