The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) believes that strengthening its economic partnerships with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will greatly benefit the country's growth, citing the UAE as a "promising partner" with strong and mutual alignments in trade and investment.

This sentiment follows the recent signing of the Terms of Reference (TOR) for the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) of the Philippines with the UAE.

DTI Undersecretary Allan Gepty, lead negotiator for the TOR, said that if the CEPA materializes, it will be a milestone on trade and investment relations in the Philippines since it will be the first free-trade agreement (FTA) of the country with a Middle Eastern nation, particularly a member of the Gulf Cooperative Council (GCC).

It follows the current policy direction of the country in terms of expanding the Philippines' FTA network, especially forging ties with non-traditional trading partners.

"UAE is one promising trade and investment partner of the country. Because even now, UAE ranks 17th out of the 213 trading partners of the country. Also, the current direction of the Philippines is to position the country as the prime investment destination when it comes to climate change or environment and social governance (ESG)," said Gepty.

“Noting also the interest of UAE in these areas, it would be best that we establish a good working collaboration with them,” he added.

Gepty mentioned the goals of the UAE in enhancing its digital economy and digital transformation, which is similar to the Philippines’ target as an innovation hub in Southeast Asia.  

An important consideration to note is the establishment of an “enabling environment for our service providers and professionals.”

“More than the employment contracts that we gain from these countries, it is also vital that we level up our engagement by providing higher levels of services to them,” Gepty remarked.

Bureau of Investments (BOI) Undersecretary Cerefino Rodolfo said that the main driver for incentives and the attractiveness of the UAE’s investments in the Philippines is its long-term goals.

He referenced Norman Vincent Wee, special envoy of the President to the UAE for trade and investment, who said the UAE’s “investments tend to be sticky and long-term, with areas of interest in renewable energy, ports and logistics, food security, digitalization, and data centers.”

With over 750,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the UAE who have helped the UAE, the Philippines can be considered as the closest country to UAE in Asia, Rodolfo noted.

Given their experiences with trade negotiations and their knowledge of UAE’s negotiations with other Southeast Asian countries, Gepty said they are expecting the negotiations to go smoothly.

He explained that since the TOR has been signed, consultations will be conducted early next year along with domestic processes with agencies and stakeholders. By the first quarter of 2024, negotiations are expected to begin.

Gepty noted a rough one to two year estimate for the completion of the whole process, but he noted that they aim to conclude the whole CEPA as soon as possible

DTI Secretary Alfredo Pascual said emphasized that there is a need for the agency to “beef up their negotiation teams.”

However, there is openness on both sides of the negotiating table.

“That’s the beauty with our relationship with UAE. They’d like to formalize with us all of these agreements as soon as possible because they want to start enhancing our economic and trade relations with them,” noted Pascual.