President Ferdinand Marcos Jr meeting United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohammed Zayed Al Nahyan on the sidelines of the summit marking Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week. - Presidential Communications Office
MANILA: The Philippines entered into its first free trade pact in the Middle East with the signing of a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (Cepa) with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Tuesday (Jan 13).
Under the agreement, hailed as a milestone in the country’s foreign economic policy, about 95 percent of Philippine exports to the UAE will enjoy preferential tariff treatment, helping manufacturers expand exports, scale up production, and generate more jobs at home.
Expected to benefit are sectors producing personal care and cosmetic items (hair creams and deodorants), food products (canned tuna, sardines, snacks, and condiments), electronic equipment (hair dryers, instant-print cameras, and parts of electrical machinery), automotive and aircraft parts, and textile and apparel products.
The Cepa also lays down clearer and more predictable rules for businesses operating in key service sectors, including professional services, construction, retail, IT-BPM, and tourism.
The agreement was signed for Trade Secretary Cristina Roque and her UAE counterpart, Minister Thani Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, in the presence of President Marcos and UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
According to a statement by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the newly formed strategic alliance would secure seamless trade flows between the two countries and improve the bilateral business environment through expanded market integration and stronger cross-border cooperation.
“Following President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s directive, we are using strategic trade deals to move Philippine businesses into higher-value markets and more integrated supply chains,’’ Roque said in the statement.
“In doing so, the Cepa gives our exporters and service providers a stable platform in the Middle East and sends a strong signal that the Philippines is open for deeper, rules-based economic partnerships,” she said.
The improved business environment should promote the expansion of Filipino service providers in the UAE while encouraging UAE companies to invest in the Philippines, the DTI added.
The agreement also goes beyond traditional trade by opening cooperation in priority areas such as digital trade, MSME, trade and sustainable development, intellectual property rights protection, competition and consumer protection, government procurement, and economic and technical cooperation.
In 2024, the UAE ranked among the country’s top trading partners and served as a major export market in the Middle East.
Marcos arrived in the UAE late Monday (Manila time) night for a one-day working visit upon the invitation of the UAE president.
According to the Presidential Communications Office, the president is also attending a forum in line with the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week.
Aside from the Cepa, the president’s trip will also see the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding on Defense Cooperation with the host country.
Marcos is scheduled to hold business meetings and engage with members of the Filipino community during his visit.
He is the first Philippine leader to visit the UAE since the 2008 trip of then-President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
According to data from the Philippine Embassy in the UAE, as of 2023, there are almost one million Filipinos living in the Middle East country and working in various industries such as service and hospitality, food, engineering and architecture, health care, and creatives, among others.
About 10 per cent of Filipino workers in the UAE are employed in the health sector, according to a 2019 study by EON, a Philippine public relations company in Dubai.
The diplomatic relations between the Philippines and the UAE were established on Aug 19, 1974, with Manila opening its diplomatic mission in Abu Dhabi on June 17, 1980.
Based on estimates made by the UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs as of 2024, Filipinos make up the third largest expatriate group in the UAE, after Indians and Pakistanis. — Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN
