MONTHLY NEWSLETTER AUGUST 2013 "This newsleter is made possible by the generous support of the American People through the United States Agency for Internatonal Development (USAID). The contents of this newsleter are the sole responsibility of TRADE Project and do not necessarily refect the views of USAID or the United States Government." USTRs Ehlers Caps Successful Manila Visit
Philippine participation in the Trans Pacific Partnership is very important to the United States. This clear message was brought by Deputy Assistant Trade Representative for Asia-Pacific Karl Ehlers to various audiences in his visit to the country last August 26-29. TRADE, led by its Chief of Party Dr. Cielito Habito, organized and hosted a series of meetings and roundtables that provided Ehlers the opportunity to put to rest earlier misconceptions on the TPP and Philippine participation therein. The four-day sojourn, made on the invitation of USAID Philippines Mission Director Glo- ria Steele following a recent ASEAN meeting Ehlers attended in Brunei, was deemed highly suc- cessful by USAID. TRADE sponsored and helped organize various meetings and events that gave Mr. Ehlers the op- portunity to meet with key government officials, opinion leaders, business leaders and trade experts in Manila and Cebu. Among key government officials he met with were Department of Trade and Industry Secretary Gregory Domingo and his Undersecretary Adrian Cristobal and Assistant Secre- tary Ceferino Rodolfo; Senate Trade and Commerce Committee Chairman Benigno Bam Aquino IV; Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan, and Department of Labor and Employ- ment Undersecretary Rebecca Chato. Highlighting the visit was a joint dinner discussion organized by TRADE with the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) and the American Chamber of Commerce in the Phil- ippines (AmCham), which participants welcomed as the first ever occasion that the two organiza- tions had come together in such a function. Both PCCI and AmCham expressed support for Philip- pine membership in TPP, which Ehlers described as a high-quality, high-standard trade agreement unlike no other existing trade agreements. Ehlers had a similar meeting in Cebu with the Cebu Business Chamber and the Cebu AmCham chapter. Mr. Ehlers visit put to rest earlier percep- tions of mixed messages from the US government on the matter of Philippine membership in TPP. Noting that TPP is the centerpiece of President Obamas trade policy, Ehlers conveyed in no unclear terms the US governments desire to see the Phil- ippines eventually become a TPP member, urging the government to move toward undertaking the reforms necessary for ac- cession. In thanking all who worked hard to make the visit a success, Ms. Steele noted that the visit helped reopen TPP discussions that others failed to make happen during the last two years. This is a great accomplishment, although a lot more hard work is needed. The President has reportedly agreed to initiate TPP consultations upon encouragement by US Ambassador Harry K. Thomas Jr. TRADE to Assist National Competition Policy Formulation TRADE will spearhead work to formulate the nation- al competition policy framework, at the request of the Office for Competition (OFC) in the Department of Justice and the National Economic and Develop- ment Authority (NEDA). Both OFC and NEDA have accorded high priority for formulating the compre- hensive framework that would guide government efforts to ensure adequate competition and a level playing field in the Philippine economy. The Depart- ment of Trade and Industry (DTI) has likewise indicated the importance of having a strong compe- tition policy in place, which together with the estab- lishment of a network of competition authorities or agencies across the region are among the key ele- ments for the ASEAN Economic Community Blue- print. OFC, through its head Assistant Secretary Geronimo L. Sy, initially invited TRADE assistance on formula- tion of the policy framework, to complement current efforts to pass a competition policy law in Congress. Through the multi-sectoral initiative spearheaded by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) and participated in by TRADE, OFC had recently signified support for the consensus position of working for an independent competition authori- ty, thereby paving the way for a unified bill to be pushed in Congress. It will be recalled that two competing bills on competition policy had been discussed in the last (15th) Congress, contributing to the difficulty in having the law enacted then. TRADE will build on past work done by the Philip- pine Institute for Development Studies on competi- tion policy, which has been under public discussion for more than a decade. Various bills have been introduced in Congress to create an independent competition authority that would, among other things, penalize all forms of anticompetitive agree- ments, abuse of dominant position, and anticompet- itive mergers. As described by OFC and NEDA, the envisaged competition policy framework would go beyond and is broader than the proposed competi- tion law, and would aim to promote and maintain a competitive environment to increase economic efficiency, achieve higher economic growth, correct market failures, enhance consumer welfare, and promote competitiveness in both domestic and foreign markets. At the same time, it would provide guidance and address situations that the proposed competition laws would be unable to cover, as in instances where competition would not achieve efficiency or might conflict with other social and development goals of the government. Competition policy would thus encompass a wide range of issues covering legislation, policy and government action. The envisaged national competition policy would thus be a key complement to the proposed competi- tion policy law, as it would guide the operation of the independent competition authority that the proposed law would establish. ( Fr om l ef t ) TRADEs Dr. Habi to wi th Karl Ehlers, USAIDs Gloria Steele., and US Embassys David Whiting in a forum with trade policy exper t s at Manila Intercon Hotel 2
TRADE Commences Technical Assistance to DTI The TRADE Project has moved to operationalize its technical assistance to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) by deploying two local experts in international trade policy and research starting August 16, 2013. They will be serving under the office of DTI Assistant Secretary Ceferino S. Rodolfo of the Industry Development and Trade Policy Group. The two experts are Ms. Myrene S. Bedao as Trade Policy Specialist and Ms. Irene S. De Roma as Services Trade Specialist. Ms. Bedao has a masters degree in Industrial Economics from the University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P) and has had extensive experience in international economics at the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the DTI. Ms. De Roma, who will start in September, has an economics masters degree from the University of Antwerp and has worked at the National Economic and Development Authoritys Trade and Utilities Staff and international trade consultancy in the ADB. TRADEs Senior Policy Adviser Dr. Ramon L. Clarete will provide overall guidance to the two experts in coordination with ASec Rodolfo. Among the assistance they will provide the DTI up to 2014 are: (1) draft Road Map for ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) Compliance to be submitted to the Committee on AEC (CAEC) Secretariat; (2) assist in organizing a Policy Forum on AEC Blueprint Road Map; (3) draft policy documents on recommended policy reform measures as requested by DTI/CAEC secretariat and other relevant agencies; (4) provide semestral progress reports on the implementation of the AEC Road Map compliance; (5) produce advocacy materials (e.g. policy briefs) on benefits from AEC membership; (6) prepare a baseline profile of Philippines-ASEAN trade in goods and services; and (7) formu- late a policy paper on opportunities and challenges from AEC membership of the Philippines. As conveyed to TRADE Chief of Party Dr. Cielito Habito, ASec Rodolfo has welcomed TRADEs positive response to DTIs need for aug- mentation of their technical capacity for trade policy analysis work.
Ehlers Calls on Cebu Business Leaders In his push for the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) Karl Ehlers also visited Cebu City, the center of trade and com- merce in the central Philippines. In a forum organized by the TRADE and COMPETE projects held at Waterfront Hotel in Lahug, he received enthusiastic response from business leader attendees coming from Cebu Business Council, Cebu City Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Cebu American Chamber of Commerce, Mandaue City Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Cebu Investments and Promotions Center and Canada Chamber of Com- merce. Other participants included representatives from National Economic Development Authority of Central Visa- yas, and Cebu Chamber of Real Estate and Builders' Associations. Staff from the TRADE and COMPETE projects were on hand to facilitate the forum. The forum revealed a low level of awareness on TPP among the Cebu busi- ness community, making Ehlers visit a valuable opportunity for informing local business leaders of the potential opportunities under the TPP. TRADE PROJECT STAFF Chief of Party : Dr. Cielito F. Habito ; Deputy Chief of Party : Gareth J. Davies ; Senior Adviser for Trade Policy : Dr. Ramon L. Clarete ; Component Lead for Trade Facilitation : Cecilia V. Reyes ; Adviser for Trade Facilitation : Edmund C. Guamen ; Component Lead for Competition Policy : Gigo Alampay ; Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist : Miguel V. Guioguio ; Director of Operations: Mitos Q. Aldave ; Project Accountant : Imelda L. Mallari (From lef) USAID Mission Director Gloria Steele with Karl Ehlers in Cebu Citys Roundtable Discus- sion with Cebu Business Club and Cebu American Chamber of Commerce. Also in the picture is COM- PETEs Dr. Henry Basilio (3rd from lef) and Raul Arcenas (5th from lef) of Cebu City Chamber of Commerce. Partcipants in the roundtable discussion led by American Chambers Ebb Hinchlife (1st from lef)