UK seek enhanced economic ties through new joint action plan

The Philippines and the United Kingdom have reaffirmed their commitment to bolster economic ties by developing a blueprint to boost trade and investment.

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the British Embassy, in a joint statement on Wednesday, said they will develop a refreshed Joint Action Plan on Trade, Investment and Economic Cooperation for 2023 to 2024.

They said the blueprint aims to grow economic relations between the two countries by maximizing trade and investment opportunities, drive investment opportunities in priority sectors like infrastructure and renewable energy, and promote ease of doing business and digitalization.

“This will provide specific data of the strategic partnership and associated actions to deliver on the above mentioned,” they said.

The statement said the action plan will have a regular review to ensure the delivery and relevance of the joint work.

On trade, the two parties said they will promote the Developing Countries Trading Scheme

(DCTS), which will provide preferential tariff on goods entering the UK and that are coming from beneficiary countries.

On investments, UK said it will mobilize the GBP8-billion British Investment Partnerships (BIP) in the country, especially in projects related to sustainable infrastructure and transition to clean energy.

“The DCTS and BIP are solid frameworks that will ensure our economic relations will remain sill strong as ever. The Philippines will continue to work with the UK government to realize concrete opportunities and foster more synergies in areas of mutual interest—in trade, investment, renewable energy, to name a few,” DTI Undersecretary Ceferino Rodolfo said.

British Ambassador to the Philippines Laure Beaufils also underscored the need to continue the momentum of the strong bilateral trade between the UK and the Philippines.

“The bilateral trade between the UK and the Philippines is the highest it has ever been, and it continues to grow alongside British investment and economic cooperation,” she said.

ThePhilippines and China are set to open discussion son how to further enhance agricultural cooperation between the two countries.

“In terms of agricultural cooperation, there are high-level officials from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA) who will visit the Philippines to talk about how to jump start the agriculture cooperation between the two countries,” said Ana Abejuela, Agriculture counselor to the Embassy of the Philippines in Beijing, in a May 10 interview with the Serbisyo Filipino-China Media Group (SF-CMG).

Abejuela said the officials are expected to arrive next month.

“During the meeting with these high level officials from MARA, we will talk about projects that could be done from this year up to 2025. That is the coverage of the current action plan with MARA,” she said.

Earlier this year, the Philippines and China signed a joint action plan for 2023-2025 on agricultural and fisheries co- operation between the Department of Agriculture (DA) and China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

A business delegation from China will also arrive and look at possible investments in the agriculture sector, she said.

Abejuela said a forum on agricultural cooperation between China and the Philippines will also be conducted during the visit of MARA officials.

“The cooperation on agriculture between China and Philippines is good. The future is also good. There is a good future to look on,” she said.