Philippines hopes to finalize FTA with EU

March 22, 2026 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines is hoping to complete negotiations for a free trade agreement (FTA) with the European Union (EU) by the middle of the year, according to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

“By this year, we will be able to conclude, hopefully by June or July, the EU FTA. So this will be a game changer for a lot of the industries in the Philippines,” Trade Secretary Cristina Roque said during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Business Environment Forum.

If the FTA talks are concluded by June or July this year, she said the signing is expected to take place next year.

Trade Undersecretary Allan Gepty said in a Viber message that the parties had a successful round of FTA talks early this month.

“We made significant progress in text-based negotiations such as chapters on sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade, legal and institutional, government procurement, competition, intellectual property, energy and raw materials, state-owned enterprises and digital trade,” he said.

He said the negotiations would now be focusing on market access for goods, services, investments and government procurement.

The next round of FTA talks with the EU will be held in May.

Roque said the Philippines is also hoping to conclude negotiations for FTAs with Chile and Canada this year.

She said the government expects to have 20 FTAs by the end of President Marcos’ term in 2028.

“For the business communities, these FTAs are our competitive edge. Over 70 percent of our exports now reach partner markets through agreements allowing Filipino products to enter the international market,” she said.

Given the complexity of navigating the global environment amid recent developments including the ongoing Middle East conflict, Roque said the DTI has taken steps to help ensure business continuity.

Among these measures is the Export Business Expansion Fund, which is making P3 billion available through the Small Business Corp. for lending to exporters.

The DTI is also working with the Asian Development Bank on various initiatives to support businesses.

Roque said the DTI and the multilateral lender are working on a program for the crafting of a semiconductor roadmap to promote research and development and make ASEAN a global hub for high-tech manufacturing.

Another initiative the DTI is working on with the ADB is a project aimed at accelerating the digital transformation of micro, small and medium enterprises to enable them to access global value chains.