Ambassador Antonio M. Lagdameo opens the Philippine Economic Briefing in London at the Four Seasons Hotel

LONDON, UK, 25 Sept – “The Philippines already has in place great opportunities for those looking for great returns on investments: favourable macroeconomic trends supported by strong domestic demand, increasing contribution of investments and services to GDP, large-scale infrastructure projects, an emerging higher value-adding manufacturing sector and a favourable demographic profile,” Ambassador Antonio Manuel Lagdameo said as he welcomed the speakers and participants of the Philippine Economic Briefing (PEB) in London on 25 September at the Four Seasons Hotel.

The United Kingdom (UK) leg of the PEB drew hundreds of Philippine and British business leaders keen on strengthening Philippine-UK trade ties.

Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III expressed confidence that the economic partnership with the UK, which is among the Philippines’ 10 leading sources of foreign direct investments (FDIs), would grow in the coming years.

Dominguez said he is optimistic that more investments from the UK would enter the Philippines in the coming years, “especially in the sunrise sectors of our economy.”

The Philippines also remains “on course” in accomplishing the Duterte administration’s medium-term goals, Dominguez said.

These goals are: to reduce poverty incidence from 21.6 percent in 2015 to just 14 percent by 2022, to make growth more inclusive by addressing the infrastructure deficiencies that stymie productivity, and to induce more investments to open more jobs for the next generation of Filipinos.

According to the Bangko Sentral, net foreign direct investments from the UK to the Philippines reached around US$ 36 million, up seven times the figures generated in the first half of 2017.

Philippine exports to the UK amounted to US$ 316 million worth of goods or 5% more than what was exported in the same period in 2017, based on Philippine Statistics Authority data.

The Philippine Economic Briefing in London is hosted by the Embassy of the Philippines in London together with the Philippine Department of Finance, Philippine Trade and Investment Center (Department of Trade and Industry), Bank of China, Citi, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Standard Chartered Holdings and UBS and UKABC

http://www.londonpe.dfa.gov.ph

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