The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a regional free trade agreement (FTA) initiated by the United States (US) and is presently being negotiated among 11 countries. With the Philippines negotiating in many fronts at the global scene, such as its engagement in the ASEAN Economic Community and...

Free trade agreements (FTAs) and regional trade agreements (RTAs), as a national policy, have proliferated in the recent decades as countries perceived trade agreements to effectively reduce trade barriers, thus helping expand market access, protect local markets, and enhance efficiency and...

A general review of the Philippine-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (PJEPA or the Agreement) was originally scheduled in December 2011. Accordingly, it was deemed that an assessment on how the Agreement affected the Philippine economy after three years of implementation would be helpful not...

Trade is an important component of the Philippine economy. Contemporary trade is shaped primarily by the evolution of Global Value Chains (GVCs), and this has a significant implication in integrating developing countries, such as the Philippines, into the global economy. An economy's inclusion...

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is a forward-looking trade agreement between member economies of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its free trade agreement (FTA) partners (AFPs) namely Australia, China, Japan, Korea, and New Zealand (i.e., non-ASEAN...

Since 2006, the World Bank has been ranking almost 200 countries in terms of their ease of doing business (EoDB) to underscore the importance of a thriving private sector in promoting high and inclusive growth. Comparing these metrics for business friendliness among economic partners is more...

The discussions on the Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP) have evolved in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings since 2004 when the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) presented a study suggesting a possible integration of the Asia-Pacific region. The most recent...

This paper provides an overview of the Philippines' defensive and offensive interests in a Free Trade Agreement with the European Union in the areas of Competition Policy, Government Procurement, Intellectual Property Rights, Dispute Settlement and Trade Remedies. It examines these interests in...

With less than two years after its ratification, many of the economic gains expected under JPEPA have yet to be realized. But while critics may be quick to judge its failure due to this seeming lack of progress, neither have there been costs and dislocations that should have been more...