The Philippines and the UK expect trade and investment opportunities to expand despite Britain’s decision to exit from the European Union, the Finance Department said over the weekend.
Visiting UK officials remain bullish on Philippine prospects, with Brexit seen more as an opportunity rather than a risk to investors.
Alok Sharma, a member of the British Parliament and Minister for Asia-Pacific of the UK Foreign Office, discussed in a recent meeting with Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III a wide range of issues, including the government’s priority goals, economic opportunities between the two countries and Manila’s war against illegal drugs.
Dominguez told Sharma the Philippines was serious in reducing poverty, and developing a country at peace with its foreign neighbors.
Sharma was accompanied during the meeting by UK Ambassador to Manila Asif Ahmad and Philip Malone, Deputy Head of the Southeast Asia Department of the UK Foreign Office, along with other British embassy officials.
Sharma informed Dominguez he had met with other Philippine officials as well as heads of large Philippine companies here during his visit to explore ways of expanding trade and investment opportunities between Manila and London.
“We had a number of really good meetings, actually with big companies here who also invested in the UK. We had discussions with UK companies who invested here in the Philippines. And I think the overall message is that things are moving forward, obviously in terms of our trade that increased, investment has increased,” Sharma said.
He said Brexit made no significant impact on British investments overseas and on the British economy, which is “doing very well.”
Sharma also said the UK supports the rehabilitation program of the administration’s war on illegal drugs.
“There is drug rehabilitation and from our perspective we would very much like to support it. [On drug rehabilitation] that’s where we would like to come and support,” Sharma said.
Dominguez said the UK was interested in infrastructure projects, especially in areas outside Mega Manila, low-income communities in Eastern Visayas, Northern Luzon and Mindanao.
President Rodrigo Duterte plans to invest $180 billion in infrastructure over the next five years. The government so far approved 17 big-ticket projects in land transport, airport development and flood control.
The UK is the largest European investor in the Philippines with British companies such as Shell, Prudential UK and Dunlop Slazenger having sizable investments here.
Some 17,000 British nationals live in the Philippines while 250,000 Filipinos reside and work in the UK. About 180,000 British tourists visit the Philippines every year.
