PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said the Philippines is seeking more trade with South Korea (SoKor) to further boost relationships between the two nations.
Increasing the exchanges between the Philippines and SoKor will benefit both countries, according to the Chief Executive.
“What we are now trying to do is to promote the partnerships that we have begun in the past so that the exchange between our two countries will increase and will be mutually beneficial to both the Republic of Korea and the Republic of the Philippines,” he told the Maekyung Media Group at the Malacañan Palace on Thursday.
President Marcos said the existing relationship between the Philippines and Sokor is already robust. “The relationship between our two countries has been ongoing for 75 years now, and this has been a very important partnership for the Philippines, and I think, also for the Republic of South Korea,” President Marcos said, adding that the two countries share the same efforts to maintain their strong ties.
Optimistic on the Philippines’ trade with Sokor, the President is expecting the ratification this year of the free trade agreement (FTA) signed by the two countries even though SoKor’s national assembly has yet to approve it.
He said the FTA could give Philippine products reduced tariff rates in the Korean market. “I think so. I think we will get it done. I think we will get it ratified …it’s important to us,” President Marcos said in an interview with Maeil Business Newspaper Chairman and Publisher Chang Dae- Whan.
Further, the Philippines wants a separate future agreement with South Korea to encourage the East Asian country to allow some of our products to have duty-free access to its market, the President explained.
“We are negotiating a separate future agreement with the Republic of Korea to encourage them to allow some of our products to be included in the reduced tariff products. We also hope that we can negotiate with South Korea better terms,” President Marcos told the business newspaper.
“There are many areas, the semiconductor, the automotive parts. Fruits, we’re already exporting many great fruits to Korea,” he said, adding that tropical fruits like avocados included by South Korea on its products list could have reduced tariff rates.
The FTA is a pact between two or more nations to reduce barriers to imports and exports among them. Under a free trade policy, goods and services can be bought and sold across international borders with little or no government tariffs, quotas, subsidies, or prohibitions to inhibit their exchange.
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