Manila and Hanoi are keen on forging an agri-fishery agreement to expand agricultural trade between the Philippines and Vietnam, according to President Duterte.
Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez, who accompanied Mr. Duterte on his state visit, told reporters on Thursday that the President agreed to start talks for a mutual recognition agreement (MRA) on food safety and quality-control management.
“There was an agreement toward developing an MRA on food safety and quality-management control, especially for agricultural and aqua, fishing and marine-resources products,” Lopez said via text message.
MRAs are considered as trade-facilitation tools, as they ensure that inspection and certification system of one country is equivalent to that of another, providing the same level of protection.
The Philippines has been importing an average of 1.5 million to 1.7 million metric tons (MT) of rice annually. In anticipation of El Niño, the government bought 500,000 MT of rice from Thailand and Vietnam last year.
Aside from paving the way for an MRA, Lopez said the President also urged Vietnamese traders to buy more locally made food, agri-based products, furniture and construction materials to reduce the Philippines’s trade deficit with Vietnam.
“He also invited more Vietnamese companies to invest in the Philippines, and reiterated his commitment to a clean and fast registration system, to honor contracts and protect their investments,” he added.
Both countries agreed to convene a second meeting of a joint trade committee to reach these objectives, according to the joint statement released by the Vietnam News Agency.
“The two Presidents called on businesses to further increase the volume of two-way trade and investment; to enhance the environment conducive for businesses of both countries to invest in potential areas, including agriculture, food processing, tourism services, infrastructure; and to consider the extension of the memorandum of agreement on rice trade and convene the second Joint Commission on Trade,” the statement read.
Two-way trade between the Philippines and Vietnam rose from $541 million in 2000 to $ 2.2 billion in 2008.
Last year former Foreign Secretary Albert F. del Rosario concluded an agreement with his Vietnamese counterpart to revive a bilateral-trade cooperation subcommittee to raise two-way trade to $3 billion by 2016, from $2.8 billion recorded in 2014.
The two countries are also eyeing to create a six-year action plan to forge closer ties on all fronts, a joint statement read.