THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) sees more flexibility in gaining market access to the UK through a bilateral free-trade agreement (FTA) after Brexit, in addition to gaining more opportunities in the education sector.
At the joint luncheon of the British Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines, Makati Business Club and the Philippine British Business Council on Thursday, Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez outlined areas of deeper cooperation with the UK following its exit from the 27-member European Union (EU) in July.
“We see a lot of opportunities in terms of economic cooperation in the area of small- and medium-enterprise development, social-enterprise development, and especially working on a possible FTA bilaterally if the Brexit implementation kicks in,” Lopez said in the open forum following the event.
“That is one area we could work with the UK, and since it’s a bilateral [arrangement that] would allow us more flexibility in selecting more products and services to be included in that arrangement than with the entire European Union,” he added.
This is congruent with the view of Ambassador Asif Ahmad in an earlier interview that the UK, should a bilateral agreement could be crafted and given that the deal will only be between two parties, sensitivities will be much less.
Trade envoy to the Philippines, Richard Graham, the event’s keynote speaker, welcomed the DTI chief’s proposal, with education seen as a possible beneficial sector if liberalized.
“There’s no reason why we cant have informal talks as the Brexit process moves forward. If I could highlight one particular opportunity, it would be a wonderful thing to have here is a British university giving an international flavor in education in the Philippines,” Graham said.