The United Kingdom Trade and Investment Manila said Monday bilateral trade between the Philippines and the UK is expected to grow by as much as 50 percent in 2015.
UKTI Manila director Iain Mansfield said both economies would benefit from the possibility of exceeding $2 billion in bilateral trade in 2015.
“We hope to increase bilateral trade with 30 percent to 50 percent growth this year,” he said.
The Philippines enjoys a favorable trade over UK, with exports about 10 percent higher than imports.
Mansfield said the growth in bilateral trade would be fueled by the entry of more British firms in the country via the Public Private Partnership scheme in joint venture with Filipino companies.
He assured the UK would remain the top European country with the biggest foreign direct investments in the Philippines of about $5 billion.
UKTI figures showed that bilateral trade in the first half of 2015 grew 44 percent. Bilateral trade in 2014 reached $1.8 billion.
Mansfield said three British companies might come to bring in fresh investments, but did not identify them.
The Philippines has always been among the top three priority country destinations among British firms, he said.
The Philippines and UKTI teamed up to bring to Hong Kong the PPP Roadshow.
The UKTI organized the roadshow to showcase British projects and engineering designs to Filipino companies in an effort to boost partnership between Filipino firms and British firms.