PH preps for CPTPP free trade network
The Philippines will submit its formal application to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) within the first half of 2025, giving it a one-and-a-half-month window to finalize its bid to join one of the world’s largest free trade networks.
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said on Friday that the schedule was shared with Chilean officials in a meeting on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting in Jeju on May 15.
“The Philippines is taking decisive steps to join the CPTPP as part of the country’s broader trade and investment agenda to widen its (free trade) network and open new markets for Philippine goods and services,” the DTI said.
“The strategy aligns with the Philippines’ broader push to enhance its global economic integration.”
The CPTPP is based on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a deal that had been originally championed by the United States under former President Barack Obama, but abandoned by the Trump administration in 2017.
After America’s withdrawal from the TPP, the remaining 11 countries—Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam – came together to form the CPTPP. It was signed in March 2018 and came into effect in December 2018.
During the Aquino administration, the Philippines expressed interest in joining the TPP, saying in 2016 that the country could benefit from the pact.
A 2016 research paper from the state-owned think tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies highlighted the potential benefits for the Philippines, including improved governance, stronger competition and better trade opportunities with enhanced market access.
