The Philippines next month will host the second round of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) talks between the European Union and the Philippines, as announced by the European Union Ambassador to the Philippines Massimo Santoro on Thursday.

“A first round of negotiations took place in October 2024 in Brussels. The second round will be hosted in mid-February by the Philippines. These discussions started with a very positive momentum,” said Santoro during the 9th Joint Economic Briefing at the Dusit Thani, organized by the European Chamber of Commerce, British, Swiss Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines, Nordic Chamber, among others.

He said the objective of the FTA is to bring the Philippines and EU’s bilateral economic ties to a new level.

“Through the FTA, we aim to facilitate not only merchandise trade, but also trade in services, and to create more incentives for investment,” he disclosed.

Santoro maintained that the EU considers the Philippines a crucial partner in the Indo-Pacific region, also seeing the significant economic potential of the country.

“Trade and investment figures for 2024 have not yet been published, but we can already say that our bilateral exchanges can better match the level of our mutual ambitions. While the EU remains the fourth largest trading partner of the Philippines with a share of 11 percent of Philippine exports and 6 percent of imports, the Philippines is only the sixth economic partner of the EU amongst the ASEAN countries,” he narrated.

“We can do more, considering the potential and the size of the Philippine market and the resources of the country. We believe that an FTA can serve as a catalyst of economic growth, benefiting businesses, workers, and consumers on both sides,” he added.

Favorable prospects

Meanwhile, Ambassador Santoro sees the Philippine economy continue to demonstrate resilience, sustaining a positive growth rate in the past year that is amongst the highest in the region, despite global headwinds.

He said in terms of outlook, economic prospects for the Philippines in 2025 remain favorable, quoting a latest estimate by the World Bank that the Philippine economy is expected to grow by 6.1 percent for 2025 driven by domestic consumption and investments.

Steady remittance inflows and lower inflation rates are also expected to support the country’s growth.

“We have also seen key economic reforms and liberalization efforts that aim to improve the business environment in the country that are starting to bear fruits,” Santoro said.

He maintained that for 2025, the EU perceives it is essential to build upon the existing progress, noting that the regional bloc will continue to follow with interest in the Philippines from a trade and investment perspective as the geopolitical situation in the region, the Ease of Doing Business environment and the Investment conditions more specifically.

“The regulatory initiatives of the government are of relevance, together with their implementation and what European businesses experience on the ground. These are areas where my delegation wants to continue to work closely with EU Business and with the Philippines. Together, let us build a stronger and more prosperous joint future,” according to the envoy.