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1400 GENEVA TIME ( 1200  GMT) 5 JULY 2005  
 
PRESS/TPRB/249 
5 July 2005 
 
(05-2890) 
TRADE POLICY REVIEW: THE PHILIPPINES  
Growth prospects are linked to continued trade liberalization 
reforms 
Sustained future growth in the Philippines will re quire continued domestic policy reforms, including 
further trade and investment liberalization and other structural reforms to improve productivity, particularly to compete with low-cost neighboring economies, according to a WTO Secretariat 
report on the trade policies and practices of The Philippines. 
 The report notes that, to meet present government growth forecasts, it appears necessary to 
address concerns like the slowdown in trade liberalization and the slippage in some other key 
reforms.   
It adds that promoting more competition in services and in other markets, along with a sounder 
more efficient financial sector, will improve the investment and business climate needed to attract Foreign Direct Investment and private sector development.  
 
The WTO report, along with a policy statement by the Government of The Philippines, will be the 
basis for the third Trade Policy Review (TPR) of Th e Philippines by the Trade Policy Review Body of 
the WTO on 5 and 7 of July 2005. 
 The following documents are available in MS Wo rd format on the WTO web-site. They can be 
downloaded at http://www.wto.org/english/ tratop_e/tpr_e/tp249.htm  
 • Secretariat report 
> Contents and summary observations  
> Economic environment  > Trade and investment regimes  
> Trade policies and practices by measure  
> Trade policies by sector  > Appendix tables  
• Government report  
• Chairperson’s concluding remarks  
• Minutes of the meeting (available appr oximately six weeks after the meeting). 
 PRESS/TPRB/249 
Page 2 of 2 
 
 
 Note 
Trade Policy Reviews are an exercise, mandated in the WTO agreements, in which member countries’ trade and related policies are examined and evaluated at regular intervals. Significant 
developments that may have an impact on the global trading system are also monitored. For each 
review, two documents are prepared: a policy stat ement by the government of the member under 
review, and a detailed report written independently by the WTO Secretariat. These two documents are then discussed by the WTO’s full membership in  the Trade Policy Review Body (TPRB). These 
documents and the proceedings of the TPRB’s meetings are published shortly afterwards.  
 Print copies of the TPR publications are available for sale from the WTO Secretariat, Centre William 
Rappard, 154 rue de Lausanne, 1211 Genève 21 and through the on-line bookshop at 
https://secure.vtx.ch/shop/boutiques/wto_index_boutique.html  or follow this path :  
www.wto.org >resources > publications > trade policy reviews  
 
The TPR publications are also available from our co-publisher Bernan Press , 4611-F Assembly Drive, Lanham, MD 20706-4391, United States 
Next reviews: 
Egypt : 26 and 28 July 2005 
Trinidad and Tobago : 14 and 16 September 2005 
Tunisia : 28 and 30 September 2005 
 For a full list of previous trade policy reviews and the full programme of future reviews go to 
http://www.wto.org/english/trat op_e/tpr_e/tpr_ e.htm#reviews 
or follow this path : www.wto.org > trade topics > trade policy reviews  
 
END