Phl less known to British investors, says UK official

MANILA, Philippines - Business opportunities in the Philippines appear to be less known to British investors than in other countries in Asia as the country faces the task of encouraging investors and providing an understanding of the prospects here, a UK official said.

UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office Minister of State Jeremy Browne said there are British companies interested in the Philippines’ Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects but the task is to increase the understanding about the project, what is realistic, how businesses can invest, outcomes and returns on investment.

One of key priorities for the Philippines, he said, is to make sure British businesses are aware of the opportunities that exist in the country.

“I give an example — four more British people visit Thailand than the Philippines each year. We have good relations with the Philippines but I think the Philippines is a country which is less known to British business people than some other countries in Asia. So one of the tasks is to make sure we can encourage, so British business people can understand the opportunities that exist here and wanting to come to Manila and to be in a trade delegation,” Browne said in a briefing on his recent visit to Manila.

“The task is to turn the interest and the initial knowledge into deeper interest and knowledge and I hope it can translate to more substantial business relations,” he added.

Browne met with President Aquino and discussed investment and trade opportunities and the PPP projects.

He said it is a knowledge in the Philippines that there are shortfalls in almost every type of infrastructure development.

   The British official noted that roads, sewerage system, telecommunication system, energy reduction and electricity cost are areas where British business models and British businesses can contribute to infrastructure development of the Philippines.

Browne said the Philippines should be considered for investments because of the country’s steady and sustainable economic growth and shortage of infrastructure.

“And any Filipino, whether a senior government minister or person in the street, recognizes that there are issues around energy production, energy capacity and infrastructure, roads, bridges, ports and airports,” Browne said. “And in Britain you have lots of expertise in design, in construction, project management, financing schemes, architecture so there are lots of areas where we feel there is a high compatibility between the expertise that exist in Britain and the requirements of the Philippines in the next 10 years. We feel we can help improve and this can be beneficial to both countries.”

According to Browne, a good system of rules and corruption are issues that need to be addressed in any country to increase investors’ confidence and make investment environment attractive.

“It is a concern if you are a business person and looking to invest your own money you would want to be confident that you are not investing in an environment where you may lose your money or some of your money due to corruption,” Browne said.

“You want to feel you are operating within a good system of rules which are fairly applied and which means that you have confidence in the investment environment so I say in any country in the world where there is corruption it distorts the business environment in a way that is clearly unfair to investors who want to play by the rules. Where there is corruption that is an issue that needs to be addressed because it is in the national interest,” he said.

Browne visited the country for the second time to affirm the strong relationship between the Philippines and the UK and express Britain’s continuing support for Philippine development and reform in line with shared values.