FTA BENEFITS. Philippine Franchise Association president Christopher Lim answers question from the press on the sidelines of the Franchise Asia Philippines 2023 held at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City on Friday (Oct. 27, 2023). Lim said free trade agreements have helped the franchise industry to grow in the country and overseas markets. (PNA photo by Kris Crismundo)
MANILA – Free trade agreements (FTAs) have helped the franchise industry grow across the country and overseas, Philippine Franchise Association (PFA) president Christopher Lim said in an interview on Friday.
On the sidelines of the Franchise Asia Philippines 2023 (FAPHL) held in Pasay City, Lim said trade facilitation and lower tariffs under such deals help those in the franchising business decrease the costs of imported products and make local brands competitive abroad.
“It (FTA) helps, because of course, when you go franchising you send products from the Philippines to international as well and, you know, when brands want to come in here, of course you buy products, so free trade agreements helped with that in order to lower the tariffs, it lowers the cost. Because the last thing you want is to bring in an international brand, and it becomes too expensive that people, the local consumers can't buy it,” he said.
He added that one of the largest imported products of the industry is in the agriculture sector, and slashing duties on these goods reduces the cost of bringing these products in.
“Some of our biggest brands you know, we do import thing(s) from Australia, from Brazil, from Latin America. So these things help now whether it was on a free trade agreement,” Lim said.
The Philippines has FTAs with ASEAN member states; ASEAN with its FTA partners, such as Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan, South Korea, and India; Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership; and bilateral FTAs with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), Japan, and South Korea.
Meanwhile, the FAPHL 2023 hosts 1,000 local and global franchise brands from 26 countries.
About 39 percent of the expo participants are new exhibitors with new concepts, such as breastfeeding centers, agriculture supplies, automated retail and convenience stores, vape stores, and kickboxing gyms.
The PFA projects industry revenue to reach PHP30 billion this year, in line with its 13 percent to 15 percent average annual growth for the next five years. (PNA)
