By Bernie Cahiles-Magkilat

European Union (EU) Ambassador Franz Jessen has urged the Philippine government to accelerate discussions to realize the proposed bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) to further improve economic relations between the two parties.

In a speech at the opening of the EU-Philippines Business Summit, the EU Ambassador cited that the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement, which was ratified in March this year, is in the interest of both the Philippines and EU.

“FTA is something that will bring us closer together,” said Jessen as he urged both sides to sit down to ensure that the FTA will materialize.

He noted the need to act faster to finalize the deal to benefit from a free trade regime.

“An FTA with the Philippines is clearly one of my objectives,” he said.

Jessen cited growth in trade in both parties since the Philippines became a beneficiary of the EU-GSP Plus scheme.

Philippines total trade with EU increased by 16 percent in 2017 due to the remarkable 32 percent growth of Philippine exports to the EU market partly to the increasing utilization of the GSP Plus.

Strong growth is particularly seen in sectors benefiting from GSP Plus such as agri-food products. On top of this, he cited sizable portion of all newly reported approved investments in the Philippines were sourced from EU, contributing to the creation of quality jobs.

According to Jessen, the economic expansion in Europe is set to continue at a solid pace in 2018 and next, supporting job creation. He said the Philippines can take advantage of its position in the region given its competitive skills and its people.