Before ending his Central Europe trip, President Marcos made a request to the Czech Republic to back the Philippines' in the resumption of the Philippine-European Union (EU) Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations.
During a business forum on Friday, March 15, where Marcos and President Petr Pavel witnessed the signing of several memoranda of understanding (MOUs), Marcos sought Czech Republic's support in the resumption of the FTA talks, stressing that it would be a "big step" in furthering their trade relations.
"We seek the support of the Czech Republic for the resumption of the Philippine-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations," Marcos said in his speech.
"We believe that the resumption of these negotiations will be a big step in furthering our trade relations, with the end view to establish a stable, predictable, and enabling business environment that promotes inclusive and sustainable growth and development," Marcos added.
He added that the agreements both sides signed "signify a very exciting step forward," adding that they embody both countries' commitment to complement our strengths and explore new avenues of cooperation.
The first MOU was signed by Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Foundation Inc. President Dr. Danilo Lachica, and Electrical and Electronic Association of the Czech Republic President Jiři Holoubek for the cooperation in extensive initiatives on bilateral exchange of information, organization of bilateral trade, economic development and exchange missions, skills, and knowledge and innovation.
IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines, Inc. President and CEO Jonathan Jack R. Madrid and Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic Vice President Milena Jaburkova signed the second MOU for the promotion of trade and investment between the Philippines and the Czech Republic in terms of utmost efforts for the promotion of commercial and industrial relations (in IT-BPM).
The second MOU also covered best practices exchange on influencing the government policies and playing an active role in policy making that is beneficial to the industry, talent development, and encouraging responsible AI implementation.
Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Consul Enunina Mangio and Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic Vice President Milena Jaburkova signed the third MOU for the promotion of trade and investment between the Philippines and the Czech Republic in terms of utmost efforts for the promotion of commercial and industrial relations (in IT-BPM), exchange of trade missions, organizing trade exhibits and fairs, exchange and answer trade and business enquiries, research and education/training.
In his speech, the President also conveyed the country's commitment to become a reliable partner for the Czech Republic in implementing its Indo-Pacific Strategy.
Moreover, Marcos invited Czech companies to invest in the processing of the Philippines' critical minerals, which, he said, offer "a robust diversification plan that can mitigate the risks of global supply chain disruptions as we have seen in the recent years."
"As we look to the future, we eagerly anticipate welcoming Czech Republic companies to further discussions and potential industry cooperation during the upcoming Joint Committee on Economic Cooperation this July," the Chief Executive said.
"This will be a very important opportunity to deepen our dialogue, to explain–to explore new partnerships, and foster an environment conducive to business and investment between our two countries," he added.
Marcos will be back in the country on Saturday afternoon (Manila time).