PBBM: ‘Exciting possibilities’ await Europe in Asia

SF | PBBM: ‘Exciting possibilities’ await Europe in Asia | MANILA – President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said Wednesday that Europe would be smart to look at the “exciting” chances Asia has to offer.

Marcos said this after Nicolas Brühl, the new Swiss Ambassador to the Philippines, showed his papers at a ceremony at Malacañan Palace in Manila.

The President said he hoped European countries would see Southeast Asia and all of Asia as having a lot to offer.

He made it clear that he and the other leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) had come together to fix the problems in the region’s economies and make them stronger during the pandemic.

Marcos told Brühl, “We’re all trying to learn the lessons that the pandemic brought with it,” as reported by the Presidential Communications Office in a news release on Thursday.

As for European countries, including Switzerland, I think it is smart for them to look to ASEAN and Asia. There are also other, let’s say, geopolitical problems, but the chances are very good, he said.

Marcos said that the time after the pandemic is a great time to work together more with the Philippines because the country now knows “how the world works.”

It’s not the same world it was in 2019 or before the pandemic, Marcos said, adding that it’s “faring differently.”

“That’s why I always value agreements, partnerships, and alliances between countries.” Marcos told the Swiss ambassador, “I think things have always gone very smoothly with Switzerland. Let’s hope they keep going that way.”

Brühl agreed with Marcos that Asia’s economy is improving faster than those in other parts of the world.

He said that the Southeast Asia plan released by the Swiss Foreign Ministry at the beginning of the year shows how important the area is and how it could be a future partner.

In January 2022, the Philippines and Switzerland marked 65 years of formal ties.

Brühl said that the celebration of the past 65 years of ties between the two countries last year was “already a good start.”

Switzerland was the Philippines’ 26th largest trade partner, 17th largest export market, and 29th largest import source in 2021.

The Philippines and Switzerland are still making the most of the PH-EFTA-FTA Free Trade Agreement, which is between the Philippines and the European Free Trade Association.

Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland, all of which are part of EFTA, signed a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the Philippines on April 28, 2016, in Bern, Switzerland.

For the Philippines, Norway, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland, the EFTA-Philippines FTA went into effect on June 1, 2018. For Iceland, it will go into effect on January 1, 2020.

The FTA covers business, competition, government procurement, trade and sustainable development, trade in goods and services, and trade in goods and services. (via PNA)