The Philippines plans to leverage the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) to intensify anti-corruption measures in the country following the signing of the Fair Economy Agreement in Singapore.
In a news release on Saturday, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Alfredo Pascual, said the Philippines would seek the technical assistance of IPEF member countries in implementing measures to combat corruption, particularly on bribery.
Pascual issued the statement as he stressed the importance of such cooperation in improving transparency and predictability in the business environment across the Indo-Pacific region through the newly signed agreement.
“It is important for the Philippines that the IPEF Agreements are able to empower partner countries and boost their value propositions as key trade allies and prime locations for strategic, sustainable, and inclusive investments — including by providing access to mechanisms for technical assistance, capacity-building and other collaborative activities such as best practices and information-sharing, support for infrastructure modernization, workforce and project development, public-private partnerships, and collaboration with the academia,” Pascual said during the IPEF ministerial meeting on June 6.
He also highlighted the clean economy pact, which will provide a framework that is tailored to address the needs and gaps of IPEF partners in the transition to clean economies.
He said the cooperative work program will serve as a platform to exchange ideas and best practices necessary to determine the best approaches toward green transition.
The Trade official said the country will continue to actively collaborate with the other IPEF partners to achieve the goals of their agreements on clean energy adoption and anti-corruption measures.
“The developments in the IPEF Agreements we have signed and the initiatives and opportunities arising from our commitments therein bring us significantly closer to our vision of a prosperous Indo-Pacific region that is built on secure and resilient supply chains, transition to sustainable and clean economies, and transparency and good governance through robust tax and anti-corruption regimes,” he said.
The Clean Economy Agreement and the Fair Economy Agreement represent two of the four key policy areas of the IPEF.
The other two Pillars of the IPEF are the Trade Pillar and the Supply Chains Pillar.
The IPEF is a United States-led framework for participating countries to enhance resilience, sustainability, inclusiveness, economic growth, fairness and competitiveness.
The IPEF partners include Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. (PNA)