Korea hopes Phl FTA be ratified before Senate adjourns

The ambassador of the Republic of Korea (ROK), Lee Sang-hwa, said the monumental Korea-Philippine Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is hopefully to be ratified before the Senate adjourns its session.

The FTA, signed last September 2023 and treated as a treaty, shall undergo ratification by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and shall be concurred by the legislative branch.

“Both sides are still doing their homework. The FTA is currently sitting in the Senate, and Senate President (Francis) Escudero promised me to finish the concurrence or ratification before they go to a recess,” Ambassador Sang-hwa told the DAILY TRIBUNE during a luncheon meeting at the Ambassador’s Residence in Forbes’ Park, Makati City on Friday.

The Senate, which has been preoccupied in the past weeks with various hearings about fugitive and dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Gou, as well as surrendered Kingdom of Jesus Christ leader Pastor Apollo Quiboloy, will have its recess this 16 October.

“For our part, we are doing our best to finalize the domestic process. We are targeting September or October this year, a moving target,” he added.

He maintained that the Korean-Philippines FTA is a win-win situation for both countries, and they hope the agreement will be effective soon.

“The FTA covers diverse areas, including agriculture and the manufacturing sector, among others. I hope that it will be a game-changer for the two countries’ trade and investment partnership, which is already as strong as it came from a much-needed impetus for trade and investment,” he further emphasized.

Trade Undersecretary Alan Gepty, who is also the country’s lead negotiator for FTAs earlier disclosed that the Philippines, under the FTA with South Korea, primarily aims for zero tariff on tropical fruits such as banana and pineapple, which are the country’s major exports to the East Asian trade partner.

He added that although it would be faster for the FTA to enter into force through an executive agreement, undertaking the trade pact via a treaty will help in the awareness that the country has an FTA with South Korea and promote the utilization of the deal. 

The two sides started negotiating the FTA in June 2019 before concluding negotiations in October 2021. But its signing was stalled several times.

Under the Philippines-South Korea FTA, South Korea will lift tariffs on 94.8 percent of Philippine products, while the Philippines will drop tariffs on 96.5 percent of South Korean products.

Other areas covered by the FTA include trade in goods, trade remedies, rules of origin, customs procedures and trade facilitation, economic and technical cooperation, competition, and legal and institutional issues. 

In terms of trade and investment, the ROK serves as one of the top Philippine beneficial investment partners.

According to the Export-Import Bank of Korea, the ROK invested more than $120 million (156 cases) in the Philippines in 2023. 

In line with this, high-tech electronics and semiconductor companies, such as Samsung Electro-Mechanics Philippines and SFA Semicon Philippines Corporation, are thriving.

Furthermore, the upcoming establishment of the Hyundai Shipyard in Subic Bay is expected to be the largest foreign direct investment in the country's history.