Phl to expand trade with UK

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines is interested in expanding its trade ties with the United Kingdom by pushing for more investments, specifically in the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry.

In a statement, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said that the Philippines offers unlimited investment opportunities such as IT and business process outsourcing, renewable energy, tourism, mining, and infrastructure.

 To date, the UK has already recognized the Philippines’ BPO capacity receiving the Offshoring Destination of the Year Award in 2010, 2009, and 2007 from the UK’s National Outsourcing Association (NOA), the UK’s only outsourcing trade association and center of excellence in outsourcing.

Also, some of the large British companies operating in the Philippines are HSBC, BP, LogicaCMG, and Shell among others.

UK’s BP is one of the world’s largest energy companies and is one of the major companies in the UK. HSBC, on the other hand, is among the largest banking and financial services organizations in the world. It has 9,500 international offices in 86 countries in Europe, Asia Pacific, Americas, Middle East, and Africa.

 Recently, the UK has identified the Philippines as a key emerging power in East Asia. They likewise cited the Philippines as “one of the largest and a key player in ASEAN” following the country’s seven percent economic growth rate in 2010 together with the high increase in bilateral trade between the Philippines and the UK.

In 2009, the UK was the Philippines’ 21st trading partner, with total bilateral trade valued at $547.21 million, or 0.65 percent of total Philippine trade with the world. Philippine exports to the UK include tuna, parts and accessories of automatic data processing machines, electronic micro assemblies, motor vehicle parts, and desiccated coconut, among others.

Philippine imports from the UK include electronic integrated circuits, uncoated paper and paperboard, newsprint, parts of electrical apparatus, books and brochures, to cite a few.

The UK is the world’s third largest importer of services and fourth largest importer of merchandise. UK’s demand for automotive aftermarket products and ICT software and services will likely increase in the coming years driven by their desire to improve productivity, based on data from the UK Country Commercial Guide.