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Trade Related Assistance for Development (TRADE)

MONTHLY NEWSLETTER AUGUST 2013
"This newsleter is made possible by the generous support of the American People through the United States Agency for Internatonal Development (USAID). The
contents of this newsleter are the sole responsibility of TRADE Project and do not necessarily refect the views of USAID or the United States Government."
USTRs Ehlers Caps Successful Manila Visit







Philippine participation in the Trans Pacific Partnership is very important to the United States.
This clear message was brought by Deputy Assistant Trade Representative for Asia-Pacific Karl
Ehlers to various audiences in his visit to the country last August 26-29. TRADE, led by its Chief of
Party Dr. Cielito Habito, organized and hosted a series of meetings and roundtables that provided
Ehlers the opportunity to put to rest earlier misconceptions on the TPP and Philippine participation
therein. The four-day sojourn, made on the invitation of USAID Philippines Mission Director Glo-
ria Steele following a recent ASEAN meeting Ehlers attended in Brunei, was deemed highly suc-
cessful by USAID.
TRADE sponsored and helped organize various meetings and events that gave Mr. Ehlers the op-
portunity to meet with key government officials, opinion leaders, business leaders and trade experts
in Manila and Cebu. Among key government officials he met with were Department of Trade and
Industry Secretary Gregory Domingo and his Undersecretary Adrian Cristobal and Assistant Secre-
tary Ceferino Rodolfo; Senate Trade and Commerce Committee Chairman Benigno Bam Aquino
IV; Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan, and Department of Labor and Employ-
ment Undersecretary Rebecca Chato.
Highlighting the visit was a joint dinner discussion organized by TRADE with the Philippine
Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) and the American Chamber of Commerce in the Phil-
ippines (AmCham), which participants welcomed as the first ever occasion that the two organiza-
tions had come together in such a function. Both PCCI and AmCham expressed support for Philip-
pine membership in TPP, which Ehlers described as a high-quality, high-standard trade agreement
unlike no other existing trade agreements. Ehlers had a similar meeting in Cebu with the Cebu
Business Chamber and the Cebu AmCham chapter.
Mr. Ehlers visit put to rest earlier percep-
tions of mixed messages from the US
government on the matter of Philippine
membership in TPP. Noting that TPP is the
centerpiece of President Obamas trade
policy, Ehlers conveyed in no unclear terms
the US governments desire to see the Phil-
ippines eventually become a TPP member,
urging the government to move toward
undertaking the reforms necessary for ac-
cession.
In thanking all who worked hard to make the visit a success, Ms. Steele noted that the visit helped
reopen TPP discussions that others failed to make happen during the last two years. This is a great
accomplishment, although a lot more hard work is needed. The President has reportedly agreed to
initiate TPP consultations upon encouragement by US Ambassador Harry K. Thomas Jr.
TRADE to Assist National
Competition Policy
Formulation
TRADE will spearhead work to formulate the nation-
al competition policy framework, at the request of
the Office for Competition (OFC) in the Department
of Justice and the National Economic and Develop-
ment Authority (NEDA). Both OFC and NEDA have
accorded high priority for formulating the compre-
hensive framework that would guide government
efforts to ensure adequate competition and a level
playing field in the Philippine economy. The Depart-
ment of Trade and Industry (DTI) has likewise
indicated the importance of having a strong compe-
tition policy in place, which together with the estab-
lishment of a network of competition authorities or
agencies across the region are among the key ele-
ments for the ASEAN Economic Community Blue-
print.
OFC, through its head Assistant Secretary Geronimo
L. Sy, initially invited TRADE assistance on formula-
tion of the policy framework, to complement current
efforts to pass a competition policy law in Congress.
Through the multi-sectoral initiative spearheaded by
the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry
(PCCI) and participated in by TRADE, OFC had
recently signified support for the consensus position
of working for an independent competition authori-
ty, thereby paving the way for a unified bill to be
pushed in Congress. It will be recalled that two
competing bills on competition policy had been
discussed in the last (15th) Congress, contributing
to the difficulty in having the law enacted then.
TRADE will build on past work done by the Philip-
pine Institute for Development Studies on competi-
tion policy, which has been under public discussion
for more than a decade. Various bills have been
introduced in Congress to create an independent
competition authority that would, among other
things, penalize all forms of anticompetitive agree-
ments, abuse of dominant position, and anticompet-
itive mergers. As described by OFC and NEDA, the
envisaged competition policy framework would go
beyond and is broader than the proposed competi-
tion law, and would aim to promote and maintain a
competitive environment to increase economic
efficiency, achieve higher economic growth, correct
market failures, enhance consumer welfare, and
promote competitiveness in both domestic and
foreign markets. At the same time, it would provide
guidance and address situations that the proposed
competition laws would be unable to cover, as in
instances where competition would not achieve
efficiency or might conflict with other social and
development goals of the government. Competition
policy would thus encompass a wide range of issues
covering legislation, policy and government action.
The envisaged national competition policy would
thus be a key complement to the proposed competi-
tion policy law, as it would guide the operation of
the independent competition authority that the
proposed law would establish.
( Fr om l ef t )
TRADEs Dr.
Habi to wi th
Karl Ehlers,
USAIDs Gloria
Steele., and
US Embassys
David Whiting
in a forum with
trade policy
exper t s at
Manila Intercon
Hotel
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TRADE Commences Technical Assistance to DTI
The TRADE Project has moved to operationalize its technical assistance to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) by deploying two
local experts in international trade policy and research starting August 16, 2013. They will be serving under the office of DTI Assistant
Secretary Ceferino S. Rodolfo of the Industry Development and Trade Policy Group. The two experts are Ms. Myrene S. Bedao as Trade
Policy Specialist and Ms. Irene S. De Roma as Services Trade Specialist. Ms. Bedao has a masters degree in Industrial Economics from
the University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P) and has had extensive experience in international economics at the Asian Development
Bank (ADB) and the DTI. Ms. De Roma, who will start in September, has an economics masters degree from the University of Antwerp
and has worked at the National Economic and Development Authoritys Trade and Utilities Staff and international trade consultancy in
the ADB. TRADEs Senior Policy Adviser Dr. Ramon L. Clarete will provide overall guidance to the two experts in coordination with ASec
Rodolfo.
Among the assistance they will provide the DTI up to 2014 are: (1) draft Road Map for ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) Compliance
to be submitted to the Committee on AEC (CAEC) Secretariat; (2) assist in organizing a Policy Forum on AEC Blueprint Road Map; (3)
draft policy documents on recommended policy reform measures as requested by DTI/CAEC secretariat and other relevant agencies; (4)
provide semestral progress reports on the implementation of the AEC Road Map compliance; (5) produce advocacy materials (e.g. policy
briefs) on benefits from AEC membership; (6) prepare a baseline profile of Philippines-ASEAN trade in goods and services; and (7) formu-
late a policy paper on opportunities and challenges from AEC membership of the Philippines.
As conveyed to TRADE Chief of Party Dr. Cielito Habito, ASec Rodolfo has welcomed TRADEs positive response to DTIs need for aug-
mentation of their technical capacity for trade policy analysis work.

Ehlers Calls on Cebu Business Leaders
In his push for the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) Karl Ehlers also visited Cebu City, the center of trade and com-
merce in the central Philippines. In a forum organized by the TRADE and COMPETE projects held at Waterfront
Hotel in Lahug, he received enthusiastic response from business leader attendees coming from Cebu Business
Council, Cebu City Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Cebu American Chamber of Commerce, Mandaue City
Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Cebu Investments and Promotions Center and Canada Chamber of Com-
merce. Other participants included representatives from National Economic Development Authority of Central Visa-
yas, and Cebu Chamber of Real Estate and Builders' Associations. Staff from the TRADE and COMPETE projects
were on hand to facilitate the forum. The forum revealed a low level of awareness on TPP among the Cebu busi-
ness community, making Ehlers visit a valuable opportunity for informing local business leaders of the potential
opportunities under the TPP.
TRADE PROJECT STAFF
Chief of Party : Dr. Cielito F. Habito ; Deputy Chief of Party : Gareth J. Davies ; Senior Adviser for Trade Policy : Dr. Ramon L. Clarete ; Component Lead
for Trade Facilitation : Cecilia V. Reyes ; Adviser for Trade Facilitation : Edmund C. Guamen ; Component Lead for Competition Policy : Gigo Alampay ;
Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist : Miguel V. Guioguio ; Director of Operations: Mitos Q. Aldave ; Project Accountant : Imelda L. Mallari
(From lef) USAID Mission Director Gloria Steele
with Karl Ehlers in Cebu Citys Roundtable Discus-
sion with Cebu Business Club and Cebu American
Chamber of Commerce. Also in the picture is COM-
PETEs Dr. Henry Basilio (3rd from lef) and Raul
Arcenas (5th from lef) of Cebu City Chamber of
Commerce.
Partcipants in the roundtable discussion led
by American Chambers Ebb Hinchlife (1st
from lef)