Photo: Minister for International Trade and Investment, Hon. Richard Maru and Secretary of the Department of Trade and Industry of the Philippines, Hon. Alfredo Espinosa Pascual during their meeting in Bangkok, Thailand.
The inaugural Joint Trade and Investment Committee Meeting between the Philippines and Papua New Guinea will take place in Manila in January 2023.
The purpose of the conference is to talk about measures to increase and diversify commercial and investment ties between the two nations.
On the sidelines of the APEC meetings in Bangkok, Thailand, Alfredo Espinosa Pascual, secretary of the Philippine Department of Trade and Industry, and Richard Maru, minister for international trade and investment, reached this agreement.
Though the two nations lack a formal, contemporary trade and economic framework to direct their collaboration and enable deeper integration in relations, he said that trade, investment, and people-to-people ties between PNG and the Philippines have grown over time.
“Based on the current statistics, there are about 30,000 Filipinos in PNG, composed mostly of overseas Filipino workers and marginal members of permanent residents and naturalised PNG citizens of Filipino origin,” he said.
“The Philippines investment, especially in the fisheries sector, has also increased over the years and there are more opportunities for increase in trade and investment between the two countries.
“It is about time for our two governments to initiate discussions with the view to have a formal trade and investment arrangement that is of benefit to our two countries,” Mr Maru said.
The two nations' first step in formalising trade and investment agreements that would be advantageous to both will be the joint trade and investment committee meeting.
The purpose of the gathering is to hold preliminary conversations about how to modernise, diversify, and increase trade, for example, under a new trade framework that takes into account current trade and investment challenges of the two countries' expanding economies. issues like agreements on the protection of investments and their promotion, double taxation agreements, and the promotion of economic cooperation between institutions of government, agencies that regulate and facilitate trade, and professional umbrella groups like chambers and private sector organisations.
The discussion of these topics will improve trade and investment ties between the two nations by supplying the private sectors of both nations with the knowledge and assurance necessary to conduct business.
Meanwhile, Mr. Maru stated that PNG is specifically aiming to attract Filipino investors to come and assist the Government's initiatives to establish a significant rice sector in PNG.
Reference: Post-Courier (21 November 2022). “PNG, Philippines Meet Set For Jan, 2023”.
