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| Inclusion of China sought in Subic-Clark-Kaoshiung - Tuesday, January 05, 2010 at 14:23 |
| Inclusion of China sought in Subic-Clark-Kaoshiung corridor By BERNIE CAHILES-MAGKILAT December 21, 2009, 4:26pm Expansion of the Subic-Clark-Kaoshiung economic corridor to include the southern provinces of mainland China is being floated among authorities to give a strong push in this much-vaunted economic corridor, which has difficulty taking off since the Memorandum of Understanding for the RP-Taiwan Economic Corridor linking Subic/Clark and Kaoshiung in December 2005. Manila Economic and Cultural Office permanent representative Antonio Basilio told reporters this idea was being floated around in light of the warming up of the bilateral relations between China and Taiwan. “There is no formal proposal but this is one idea or concept being floated around for the economies,” Basilio said. Basilio noted that China and Taiwan have shown interest in ASEAN and there is no legal prohibition to forge a subregional free trade area. “We want to leverage on their interest in ASEAN,” Basilio said. The southern provinces of China would include Fujian , Guangzhou and Hainan. Basilio said that even former president Fidel V. Ramos has been pushing for a subregional FTA that would involve the BIMP-EAGA. The vision, however, to expand the Kashiung-Clark-Subic economic corridor could happen only after Taiwan and China have established their proposed FTA. The expansion of this economic cooperation is expected to boost the integration of the provinces involved. Basilio admitted that the number one reason for the slow paced action is still hampered by the limitation on the part of the Taiwanese investors in Subic and Clark to sell to the domestic market. At present, the Philippines could only offer the same ASEAN national treatment policy to Taiwanese investors of 40 percent local content and sell up to 30 percent of their production to the local market. The Taiwanese are still insisting on a 25 percent local content requirement. Basilio, however, said that studies have shown that only a third of the products traded under an FTA regime go through the process, thus negating the preferences created to facilitate and improve trade. This means that the most important factor for trade to progress is for trading partners to focus on harmonization of standards and procedures to allow a free flow of trade. The harmonization of standards and procedures among China Taipei, and Subic-Clark in the Philippines is going to resolve the issue of market size that Taiwanese investors have been complaining about to make the Kaoshiung, Subic-Clark economic corridor a reality. Source : http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/235095/inclusion-china-sought-subicclarkkaoshiung-corridor |