The Canadian and Philippine governments are expected to launch an exploratory dialogue on a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) in early 2025.

Canadian Minister of Export Promotion, International Trade and Economic Development Mary Ng made the announcement during a plenary session in Taguig City for the visiting Canadian trade mission to the Philippines on Dec. 5.

“Our businesses that are here in the region, here in the Philippines in particular, the businesses always say that they want predictability, they want certainty, and they want that through FTAs, free trade agreements,” she said.

“(Trade) Secretary (Maria Cristina) Roque and I, we are going to begin exploratory discussions for a Canada- Philippines FTA,” she disclosed.

Ng said the two states are set to meet at the beginning of 2025 for the initial talks.

The minister noted that Canadian businesses are already well-positioned in the country, an indication that interest in the Philippines is there.

“A lot of the times, you negotiate an FTA so that you can begin to create the conditions for businesses to come— here, the businesses are already here. You’re always seeing the interest in the Philippines and that already will give us a lot of momentum for FTA discussions,” she said.

Ng is leading the Canadian Trade Mission to Manila from Dec. 4 to 6, which brings more than 300 Canadian exporters, innovators, and Canadian officials to meet with Filipino counterparts.

At the plenary, Ng also announced some landmark achievements during the visit, including the contract signing between the Canadian firm FreeBalance and the Department of Budget and Management to enhance the latter’s financial management systems.

In addition, Canada is also set to sign an administrative agreement under its nuclear cooperation deal with the Philippines.

“This will build on our work in the region through the trade gateway for nuclear development for the Indo-Pacific. And, as a tier one nuclear nation Canada is positioned to support Philippines’ energy security goals with their expertise across the nuclear supply chain,” she said.

She also announced that Canadian information company OpenText will locate its first global innovation center in the Philippines.

More and more firms, she said, are also looking at Manila as its hub in the region, including Ostrom Climate Solutions. (PNA)