The United Kingdom is wishing to become one of the Philippines' top investors considering the country’s wide market and the government’s measures to ensure easier access to conducting business transactions.
UK Ambassador to the Philippine Laure Beaufils said UK "wants to capitalize" on the country’s unsaturated and English-speaking market as well as on its "big demographic dividend" and the people's "strong, ethical workforce."
"We want to be among your top investors... We want more British investment. And that’s what this year is about," Beaufils said in an interview with CNN Philippines on Thursday night.
The UK also expressed interest in the Philippines in terms of investments because of various business measures initiated by the government.
Aside from the ease of doing business and the sanctity of the contracts that the country offers, the Philippines has "significant" laws that provide accessibility to foreign investors. These included the Retail Trade Liberalization Act, the Foreign Investments Act and the Public Service Act as well as the lifting of foreign investments in renewable energy, according to Beaufils.
In fact, she added, there were at least two "great stories" last week of UK businesses partnering with local companies and venturing into the country.
"All the initiatives that were taken towards the end of 2021 or 2022 only just starting to bear fruit," she said.
With economic leaders now building on the discussions they had during the World Economic Forum (WEF), where President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. attended, Beaufils said the UK is now "ambitious" as it wants its investments "to go up."
"This is an opportunity to reintroduce the fundamental market to investors in the UK," Beaufils added.