November 18, 2024 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines expects its trade ties with Latin America to get a boost from the recently inaugurated Chancay Port in Peru.
Acting Trade Secretary Cristina Roque, who was appointed by President Marcos as his special envoy to the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ Week, said in an interview with Newsyman in Peru that the new port is expected to open opportunities for Philippine exporters.
“That will really shorten the time, the shipment time from here, Peru, all the way to Asia or to the Philippines. So that’s really a big plus. So there will be a lot of trade now that will be happening between Latin America and the Philippines and in Asia,” she said.
With the new port expected to accommodate larger vessels, Roque expects a significant boost in trade between Latin America and the Philippines.
“For us to be able to sell the goods all the way to Latin America, we need to pay tariffs every time we stop. But now it’s a direct shipment from here, from Peru, all the way to the Philippines. So that’s really welcome to our country,” she said.
In terms of the Philippines’ trade ties with the US, she said she does not anticipate issues following the re-election of US President Donald Trump.
“We have a really good relationship between the Philippines and the US. So I don’t think there’s going to be a problem with the trade between the US and the Philippines. So I think the trade will continue,” she said.
She also said the Philippines is planning to adopt an aggressive approach to strengthen its trade relations with the US.
During the meeting with the US Chamber of Commerce, US-ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Business Council and AMCHAM (American Chamber of Commerce) Peru on the sidelines of the APEC summit, Roque sought for US business leaders’ support in a free trade agreement between the US and the Philippines.
She said the Philippine government aims to increase trade and investments by welcoming more investors to the country.
“We just launched the CREATE MORE (Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises to Maximize Opportunities for Reinvigorating the Economy) last week, which makes it now more conducive and attractive for the different international investors to come in,” she said.
Signed into law last week, CREATE MORE Act aims to make the country more attractive to investments through improvements in the incentives system.
Key provisions of the law include streamlined value-added tax procedures, reduced administrative burdens for foreign businesses and enhanced deductions.
Apart from incentives, Roque said the Philippines has a skilled workforce that investors can tap.
In terms of priority sectors, she said the Philippine government wants to see more investments in renewable energy, semiconductors, electric vehicles and manufacturing.
As the Philippines experiences frequent typhoons and natural disasters, she said the government has programs in place to help businesses and communities bounce back quickly.
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