By Justine Irish D. Tabile, Reporter
THE PHILIPPINES is not unduly disadvantaged by US tariffs because it is essentially in the same position as its rivals, the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) said, adding however that it must support multilateral approaches to trade to manage its risks.
“I think you can absorb the tariff, because on a relative basis, in the key industries, your competitors have not done any better. So, you’re actually in a position to withstand that,” ICC Secretary General John W.H. Denton AO told BusinessWorld.
“I think the Philippines would be at risk if the system that it is reliant upon, the trading system, collapses. That is why it is important to work with us, with the rest of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), to maintain it,” he said.
“And also, at the same time, getting access to development support because there’s less going around than there was, so we need to work out a new strategy here and that is really around increasing economic activity and attracting foreign investment,” he added.
He said ASEAN forms the foundation of the largest free trade group, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).
“But the RCEP group has not been able to deliver a lot of the economic activity that is necessary and opportune for small businesses,” he said.
“We are looking at how we can help, and one of the inhibitors there is actually the way rules of origin are drafted,” he added.
He said ASEAN must establish clear principles, which makes the Philipines’ chairmanship of the ASEAN Summit next year an important role.
“ASEAN is an incredibly important group because it’s a very large grouping when you look at the population, but it has quite a significant convening power because people want to do business with ASEAN,” he said.
“And so establishing the clear principles for what a revitalized trading system looks like is something that the Filipino chairmanship of ASEAN could actually work with us to deliver as well,” he added.
In terms of business sentiment, he said that lack of certainty is making investors pause before plunging into new ventures.
“But the economy here is going relatively well compared to other economies in ASEAN … It’s still the fastest-growing economy in Southeast Asia, so there are a lot of opportunities there,” he said.
He said the demography in the Philippines is what has helped it so far but noted the need to reduce red tape.
“You actually do have to make it easier to invest, do business, and do more economic activity, and reduce some of the red tape, which has actually stopped or hindered business activity here,” he added.
