By Sumayya
MANILA, Philippines – Prime Minister Mark Carney landed in Manila on Friday for a brief trip to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations meeting and is ready to depart with a brand-new free-trade deal with the Philippines.
“Today, we have successfully concluded negotiations on a Canada-Philippines Free Trade Agreement. We will move just as fast to finalize the deal and bring it into force next year,” Carney stated in written notes shared prior to a press conference in Manila. He explained that this pact with the Philippines could assist in tripling business exchange between both nations to over 10 billion dollars each year by the year 2035.
The Philippines, long known as one of Southeast Asia’s quickest-growing economies, is currently going through a slower period, with its gross domestic product growing by 2.1 percent during the third quarter of 2026. Global organizations, however, anticipate its growth will bounce back past five percent next year.
Canadian pig farmers will be observing carefully to discover if this pact assists in fixing long-running limits on pork shipments to the Philippines, even though the exact points of the agreement have not been shared with the public yet.
Carney noted that this pact marks another move in Canada’s plan to spread its business partnerships away from the United States.
“We are developing a dense web of reliable partners to create more opportunities for our business and more choice for Canadians, while reducing our reliance on the United States.”
“Whether you’re a Canadian tech start-up, canola farmer, pork producer, or small business owner, looking for an expanding middle-class market, this agreement will make it easier, cheaper and faster to sell your goods to this region as a whole,” Carney expressed.
Kyle Larkin, the president and chief executive officer of the Canadian Meat Council, stated that wrapping up talks toward a Canada-Philippines free trade pact is a positive step forward for Canada’s pork sector and the long-lasting friendship between both nations.
While a suggested Canada-ASEAN free trade pact has not been completed yet, it would hand Canadian sellers better entry into a marketplace of close to 700 million shoppers across Southeast Asia. The regional group’s combined economy holds a value of roughly 6 trillion U.S. dollars, according to Carney’s speech notes.
