THE PHILIPPINES and Denmark are in talks for a possible financing agreement to support Danish investments, the Department of Finance (DoF) said on Wednesday.
“We covered important questions like a finance agreement between Denmark and the Philippines which will also help more investments from Denmark to the Philippines, creating jobs here,” Franz-Michael Skjold Mellbin, the Danish Ambassador to the Philippines, said.
This ambassador’s meeting with Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto was detailed on the DoF social media account.
Denmark is a major exporter of pharmaceuticals, agricultural goods, and wind turbines.
The envoy also expressed support for a free trade agreement (FTA) between the European Union (EU) and the Philippines, for which a third round of negotiations recently concluded in Brussels. The next round of FTA negotiations is scheduled to take place in the Philippines in October.
“We are looking to extend with a free trade agreement between the European Union and the Philippines” Mr. Mellbin said.
“We are one of the largest investors in the country these years. We’re talking about $10 billion, it’s a huge investment.”
The FTA is expected to be the Philippines’ most comprehensive trade agreement, becoming the first to cover government procurement, digital trade, energy and raw materials, and trade and sustainable development.
In 2024, trade between the Philippines and the EU hit $15.5 billion, making the bloc the Philippines’ fifth-largest trading partner, accounting for 7.7% of total trade.
“Today, I could also tell Secretary Recto that fortunately the EU now has decided to take the Philippines off the EU blacklist for terror financing,” he said.
This delisting boosts investor confidence and lowers remittance costs for overseas Filipinos, he said.
On Aug. 5, the Philippines and seven other countries were removed from the list of countries deemed “high risk” for money laundering and terrorism financing. — Aubrey Rose A. Inosante