Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian remains optimistic that the proposed renewal of the Philippines’ participation in the Generalized Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+) will boost the competitiveness of the country’s exports and increase investment prospects.
“We are elated to find out that the European Commission (EC) has proposed to renew the country’s participation in the GSP+ scheme as this would surely provide a wider market for our exports and consequently greater employment opportunities for our people,” Gatchalian said.
He is also hopeful the members of the EU Parliament were able to appreciate their discussions and initiatives toward building strong partnership between the Philippines and the EU.
He hopes they will vote favorably for the EC’s proposed renewal of the grant of EU GSP+ privileges to the Philippines.
The senator was part of the Philippine Congressional Delegation who visited the European Parliament in October 2022 to discuss with their counterparts the status of the GSP+, among other things. He commended the work undertaken by Senator Sonny Angara for leading the delegation.
As proposed by the EC, the country’s participation in the GSP+ scheme will be allowed for another four years or until December 2027 as soon as it expires by the end of this year.
A special incentive arrangement for low and lower-middle-income countries, the GSP+ is a unilateral trade arrangement offering zero tariffs on 6,274 products or 66% of all EU tariff lines.
Following its initial participation in 2014, the country’s export revenues grew to EUR 7.7 billion in 2021 from EUR 5.7 billion in 2014.
Philippine exports to the 27 European Union countries (EU27) increased from $6.4 billion in 2020 to $8.6billion in 2021, attributed to the surge in the exports of crude coconut oil, skipjack tuna, semiconductor devices, and digital monolithic integrated circuits, among other products.
Gatchalian is also confident the renewal of the Philippines’ participation in the GSP+ scheme would further improve the country’s investment relations with EU member economies. In 2021, the EU27 was the Philippines’ 5th largest trading partner, 6th biggest export market, and the 6th biggest import source.
A considerable source of investments to the country, the EU has contributed around $2 billion in investments from 2017 to the first half of 2022, with an average percentage share of around 10% of the total approved foreign investments in the country.
Major contributors include The Netherlands, with a contribution of $1.6 billion, followed by France with $130 million, and Germany with $130 million.