The Philippine agriculture industry stands to benefit from the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) as it will address longstanding issues in the sector and encourage investments, a cabinet official said Tuesday.
National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan made this remark in a briefing, saying the ratification of the mega trade deal will help the agriculture sector be competitive and productive.
“It must be ratified. The future of our country depends so much on our ability to attract investors, particularly foreign capital because the domestic capital is not enough… By being a member, we are saying to the world that we are ready for business, we play the rules of the game well, and your investments are safe with us,” Balisacan explained.
The socioeconomic planning chief also brushed off criticisms that the free trade agreement will “hurt” the agriculture sector.
“With regards to the allegation that the agricultural sector will be hurt, there’s no truth to that… whether or not there is RCEP, we need to invest in agriculture. Kinakailangan nating ma-address ‘yung mga concerns,” Balisacan said.
“‘Yung mga problema ngayon ng agriculture has nothing to do with RCEP. The problems were outcomes of past neglects of the sector,” the NEDA chief pointed out.
According to Balisacan, by ratifying RCEP, the country will be “even more forced to pay attention to agriculture because only then can you fully maximize the benefits that RCEP can give to us.”
RCEP is a free trade agreement (FTA) between the ten member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its five FTA partners: Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand and the Republic of Korea.
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. earlier said RCEP would be good for the country because of the increased trade that it would bring to different member economies.
The Philippines is going to continue increasing its investment in the agricultural value chain to make it more competitive, the chief executive has said, adding RCEP will allow the country to further strengthen its agricultural value chain. (PND)
