President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. sought the support of Czech Republic to support the Philippines for the resumption of the Philippine-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations, which will help further trade relations of the member countries.

In his speech during the Philippines-Czech Business Forum at the Czernin Palace, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, President Marcos underscored the importance of the resumption of the Philippine-EU FTA in achieving shared goals of stability, economic growth and sustainable development in the region.

“Moreover, we seek the support of the Czech Republic for the resumption of the Philippine-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations,” President Marcos told the Czech business leaders during the forum organized by the Philippine Embassy in Prague and the Department of Trade and Investment (DTI).

“We believe that the resumption of these negotiations will be a big step in furthering our trade relations, with the end view to establish a stable, predictable, and enabling business environment that promotes inclusive and sustainable growth and development,” he added.

Negotiations for the PH-EU trade and investment agreement were launched on December 22, 2015 followed by the second negotiations, which took place in February 2017.

The negotiations have since been put on hold until July 2023 while the EU and the Philippines announced their intention to begin technical discussions with a view to potentially resuming negotiations. *PND.*