The Philippines and the United Arab Emirates are set to sign a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) by June 2025, Special Envoy to Dubai Ma. Anna Kathryna Yu Pimentel announced at the Doing Business with the Philippines forum Tuesday.
“This will be historic in the sense that it will be our first free trade agreement with a Middle Eastern country,” she told business leaders present at the forum.
CEPA will complement existing measures such as CREATE and other investment incentives to strengthen the Philippines’ appeal to global investors, she said.
Once in force, the PH-UAE CEPA will lower barriers on goods and services, unlock greater capital inflows and expand opportunities for Filipino professionals across the Gulf region.
It forms a key pillar of the Philippine Development Plan 2023–2028 and the Philippine Export Development Plan 2023–2028 as Manila seeks to diversify its export markets and deepen ties with strategic partners.
Meanwhile, Dubai Chambers signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) to enhance cooperation, strengthen bilateral trade relations and explore new areas of collaboration between the business communities in Dubai and the Philippines.
The forum was organized by the PCCI in collaboration with the Board of Investment, the Export Marketing Bureau, the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates in Manila and the Consulate General of the Philippines in Dubai.
“The PCCI-Dubai Chamber partnership is positioned to deliver concrete results for our business communities. We anticipate this alliance will generate substantial trade flows, facilitate strategic partnerships, and open new markets for Philippines and UAE enterprises across key sectors,” said PCCI president Enunina Mangio.
Dubai Chambers vice president for international relations Salem Al Shamsi said the entire delegation is committed to creating new avenues for trade between Dubai and high-potential global markets.
The latest trade figures showed bilateral non-oil trade between the Philippines and the UAE reached $1.08 billion in 2023.
The UAE ranks as the Philippines’ 17th largest trading partner and leads all Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states as both top export market and biggest investor in the Philippines.
Investment flows from the UAE reached over $129.4 million from 2019 through 2023, while tourist exchanges surged in 2024, with more than 33,000 Emirati visitors to Philippine shores and over 301,000 Filipinos traveling to the UAE.
