The Philippines is likely to start negotiating a free trade agreement (FTA) with Taiwan within a year, on the basis of the recent trade pact between Taiwan and China, the Philippines Deputy Trade Secretary Adrian Cristobal said Thursday. The Philippines is considering FTAs with the United States, the European Union, Vietnam, India, China and Taiwan, Cristobal said at a news conference in Manila. Although the Philippines is a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations plus China grouping and has an economic agreement with Japan, it will benefit from an FTA with Taiwan, Cristobal said. The signing of an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) between Taiwan and China in late June has given rise to concern among Japan, South Korea and Southeast Asian countries that their exports could face stronger competition because of the tariff cuts or removal under the ECFA. 'We hope to start formal FTA negotiations with Taiwan within a year,' Cristobal said. However, the Philippines government will have to consult with the country's parliamentarians, academics and business leaders on the issue and close internal divisions before it could hold discussions with potential FTA partners, he said. In late June, then Secretary of the Philippines Department of Trade and Industry Jesli A. Lapus said that because the Philippines adheres to the 'one China policy,' the issue of an FTA with Taiwan is quite sensitive. Taiwan's representative to the Philippines Donald C. T. Lee was not available for comment on the matter. However, Lee had said earlier that apart from spreading the benefits of the ECFA, a Taiwan-Philippines FTA could also help to bring Taiwan investors to the Philippines, particularly those in the fields of trade, agriculture and labor affairs who may have been eyeing the Chinese market. 