The Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) will hold a public webinar on March 10, 2022 from 2:00 PM to 4:30 PM via Cisco Webex.
This virtual event will feature the PIDS study “A Review of Philippine Participation in Trade in Services Agreements” authored by PIDS Senior Research Fellow Ramonette B. Serafica and Research Analyst Queen Cel A. Oren. This study reviewed the Philippines’ participation in services trade agreements to date at the multilateral (WTO GATS), regional (ASEAN and dialogue partners), and bilateral levels (PJEPA and PH-EFTA FTA). It also discussed the government’s institutional arrangements for trade in services negotiations. To harness the benefits of participating in free trade agreements, the study suggests judicious exercise of policy space in binding commitments, involving private sectors earlier in the cycle of services negotiations, clarifying and delineating roles of government agencies, capacitating private sectors and MSMEs to engage in trade in services more actively, and increasing market opportunities for the country. The first step toward strengthening the governance structure would be to consolidate negotiations in one agency instead of the current setup where the lead coordination role is split between two agencies depending on the trade partner and scope of the agreement. Additionally, a network approach to services and a whole-of-economy approach can strengthen the private sector engagement to take full advantage of international trade.
A copy of the study may be downloaded from this link: https://pidswebs.pids.gov.ph/CDN/PUBLICATIONS/pidsdps2143.pdf.
DOWNLOAD PRESENTATIONS:
A Review of Philippine Participation in Trade in Services Agreements presented by Dr. Ramonette Serafica, Senior Research Fellow, Philippine Institute for Development Studies
Reaction of Ms. Doris Magsaysay Ho, Co-chair, Philippine Services Coalition and President and CEO of A. Magsaysay, Inc.
The recording of this webinar may be viewed at https://fb.watch/bFz9gEr7kR/.
