The Philippines is expecting to receive 500 million pounds in investment from British companies for the next five years as United Kingdom started to focus on the Southeast Asian region in terms of financial developments, its envoy to the Philippines said Friday.
Ambassador Laure Beaufils said UK is gearing towards green infrastructure and renewable energy investments in the Philippines as they believe it is where they have "a strong comparative advantage."
"We've got a lot of British companies that are also active in that space. And that's why we're really, really excited to hear the changes in roles in terms of investments in renewable energy," she said in an interview with ANC.
According to Beaufils, UK's development finance institutions were previously focused on other parts of the world.
But now, that focus already "shifted to this part of the world," she said.
"The Philippines will be one of the three target countries that will be receiving 500 million pounds over the next five years, which is quite a lot of money," she added.
Beaufils believed this kind of development "is one of the most exciting areas" for the Philippines-UK bilateral relationship as people "can expect a step change in the years to come."
"We hope to put all of these tools together to have a really strong offer, and to deliver tangible results and investments across the region and the Philippines, in particular," she said.
While President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. also expressed interest in the shift to nuclear energy, UK could offer renewable energy for now as Beaufils believed its their "expertise."
"We, as an island as well, have a lot of experience in offshore wind in particular, and the onshore wind... And I know that's an area of particular interest, because the Philippines itself also have certainly so much potential on offshore wind," she said.
But when the country finally decides to pursue the use of nuclear energy, then, Beaufils said UK is "also very happy to lean in and support."