THE UK offers £4 billion (about $4.9 billion) in export finance for renewable energy and digital agriculture infrastructure projects in the Philippines, the British Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (BCCP) said Monday.
BCCP chairman Chris Nelson said UK Ambassador to the Philippines Laure Beaufils earlier disclosed plans to extend export finance to the Philippines.
“There is actually £4 billion in potential export finance for the Philippines, one of the areas of focus is renewable energy and on infrastructure,” he said.
The BCCP said the UK is very keen on digital infrastructure.
Nelson said the UK is sustaining long-term trade relations with the Philippines, particularly with the new preferential trade agreement under the Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS).
DCTS preference countries such as the Philippines will receive access to duty-free, quota free trade on 92 percent of eligible goods which are over 99 percent of Philippine exports to the UK in terms of value.
“We’re looking forward to seeing DCTS further boost that along with trying to get investments from the UK and the key sectors in the Philippines,” Nelson said.
He said the UK made preferential trading with partners easier, particularly with developing countries, in terms of country of origin and the reduction of tariffs on 150 more tariff lines.
“So all of these should see a significant boost, particularly in agriculture. And I think it just reinforces potential growth areas between the two countries,” Nelson said.
The DCTS is the UK’s alternative to the EU Generalized System of Preferences Plus (GSP+). The UK said the DCTS is one of the most generous trade preference schemes in the world that benefits 65 countries, 3.3 billion people and over €20 billion of exports to the UK each year.
Philippine exporters are expected to benefit from an estimated combined tariff savings of €21 million for businesses compared to UK global tariff (UKGT).
There were more than 300 British investors in the Philippines as of end-2022. Trade between the UK and the Philippines reached £2.4 billion last year.
