Ratification of PH, SoKor FTA seen this year

• President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. expects the Philippines and South Korea to ratify their free trade agreement this year

• The Philippines is also negotiating a separate agreement with South Korea to encourage the country to allow duty-free access to some Philippine products

President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. expects the Philippines and South Korea to ratify their free trade agreement (FTA) this year.

“I think we will get it done. I think we will get it ratified …it’s important to us,” Marcos said in an interview with South Korea-based Maeil Business Newspaper chairman and publisher Chang Dae-Whan in Malacañang.

The Philippines and South Korea signed an FTA on September 7, 2023.

READ: PH, South Korea sign free trade agreement

Under the FTA, South Korea will remove tariff on 94.8% of all items and the Philippines will lift tariff on 96.5% of all products traded. The signing of the FTA comes two years after the conclusion of negotiations in 2021 when both countries finally resolved outstanding issues. South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy earlier said the agreement is expected to come into force in the first half of 2024.

Marcos noted, however, that South Korea’s National Assembly has yet to ratify the FTA.

The FTA with the Philippines is South Korea’s fifth signed with an Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN) member, following Singapore, Vietnam, Cambodia and Indonesia.

The Philippines, meanwhile, anticipates major economic gains with enhanced market access to South Korea, which includes exports for key products such as tropical fruits, as well as a comprehensive and robust mechanism for cooperation.

Marcos, meanwhile, said the Philippines is negotiating a separate agreement with South Korea to encourage the East Asian country to allow duty-free access to some Philippine products.

“We are negotiating a separate future agreement with the Republic of Korea to encourage them to allow some of our products to be included in the reduced tariff products, and also we hope that we can negotiate with South Korea better terms that we get on [the] ASEAN-Republic of Korea FTA,” Marcos said.

“But this is natural. I think all the other ASEAN countries have the same thinking. So, there are many areas, the semiconductor, the automotive parts, that’s one area. Fruits, we’re already exporting great many fruits to Korea,” he said.

Marcos cited tropical fruits like avocados that South Korea included on its list of products that could have reduced tariff rates, as he anticipates more Philippine products would be included on the list.