Philippines buying more products from UK

Philippines buying more products from UK

 

(By Ricardo Cruz, BusinessMirror)

 

MANILA -- Shipments of British products to the Philippines went up by 8 percent to 139 million pounds in January to May on the back of higher demand for capital goods in the country, the United Kingdom Trade and Investment (UKTI) in Manila said on Thursday.

 

Iain Mansfield, newly appointed UKTI director, told reporters that the bulk of British exports consisted of industrial machines.

 

“In terms of volume, shipments of British products were up by 4 percent in the first five months of the year.

 

High demand for capital goods reflects how bullish local businessmen are in the country’s economy,” Mansfield said in a news conference held in Makati City on Thursday.

 

Mansfield said the Philippines is a “rising star” where doing business is “exciting.”

 

This is because the Philippines has one of the most robust economic growth among countries in Southeast Asia.

 

He also said investor’s confidence has been boosted by the credit-rating upgrades obtained by the Philippines from Fitch, Standard & Poor’s and the Japan Credit Rating Agency.

 

Mansfield said British businessmen are keen on investing in infrastructure projects which will be implemented by the Philippine government and the private sector under the so-called public-private partnership (PPP) scheme.

 

Among the sectors British investors are interested in are energy, retail, agriculture, and education.

 

Mansfield said trade relations between Great Britain and the Philippines “are good.”

 

Last year shipments of British goods to the Philippines went up by 17 percent to 332 million pounds.

 

Latest available data shows that for 2011, two-way trade of goods and services amounted to around 1 billion pounds.

 

The combined net foreign direct and net portfolio British investments from 1991 to 2010 amounted to $12 billion rivalled only by Singapore with a much smaller $9 billion total investment during the period.

 

“As of 2013, the UK is the highest European and fourth highest overall source of FDI in the Philippines,” Mansfield said.

 

There are currently over 200 active British companies in the Philippines.

 

Major British companies in the country today include Unilever, Shell, HSBC, Standard Chartered, Pru Life, De La Rue, GSK, AstraZeneca, G4S, Arup and Halcrow.

 

Mansfield said that Shell invested $5 billion in the Philippines, making it the largest British investor in the country.

 

Shell and its partners developed and currently operate the Malampaya deep water gas to water project off the northwest coast of Palawan.

 

The petroleum company is currently seeking an extension of their license for another 15 years and plan to increase to increase their investments by an additional $1 billion for the development of the second and third phases of Malampaya as well as the expansion of their refinery and a green field development of an liquefied natural gas terminal.

 

HSBC, Shell, Logica, T-Mobile, the Financial Times and Northgate Arinso are among the UK companies active in business-process outsourcing.

 

In retail, many British companies are active in successful franchising which include Debenhams, M & S, Speedo, Topshop, Dorothy Perkins, Warehouse, Clarks Shoes, Burberry, Paul Smith, Ben Sherman, Hackett, Dunhill, Lee Cooper and Mothercare.

 

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(ABS-CBN News, 9 August 2013)