Ramos wants GATT ratified

Ramos wants GATT ratified

MANILA (Reuter): President Fidel Ramos and a top businessman
on Wednesday urged the Philippine Senate to ratify the new GATT
world trade treaty, saying failure to do so would spell disaster.

Ramos brushed aside fears that domestic industries will perish
if the country adopts freer trade and warned the local economy
would be isolated unless the Philippines accepted the General
Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.

He told a national business conference that some sectors would
be adversely affected but said there is enough time for industry
to adjust to the more open trading system GATT is meant to
introduce.

"If the country's business leaders and economic decision-
makers don't adapt to the ever-changing economic environment, we
shall follow the way of the dinosaur, that is, economic
extinction," added Herman Montenegro, president of the Philippine
Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

"We cannot afford to delay ratification if we want to benefit
from the Uruguay Round and promote our overall economic
interests," Ramos said.