The Philippines and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) member states – Switzerland, Norway, Liechtenstein, and Iceland, recently had an inaugural joint committee meeting where they assessed the implementation of the Philippines-EFTA free trade agreement (FTA).
According to the Philippines’ Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)’s statement, it said both sides are determined to further improve their respective utilization rates.
“Over the five years of implementation, both sides have confirmed that the FTA is working well and has no critical implementation issues to date. The preferential utilization rates for the Philippines and EFTA member states were reported at 31 percent and 30 percent for 2020, respectively,” the DTI said.
In addition, both parties also discussed further opportunities to cooperate in the areas of sustainable development, gender equality, management of forests and climate change, etc, reported Phil Star.
