The Philippines and the United Kingdom held their inaugural Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO) meeting to boost cooperation in infrastructure, energy and agriculture, alongside a 5-billion-pound financing commitment from UK Export Finance (UKEF).
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) delegation, led by Undersecretary Allan Gepty, sought to establish a government-to-government financing framework partnership (FFP) to support national priority infrastructure projects.
The £5-billion financing framework is expected to facilitate UK expertise and technology contributions to the Philippines’ development goals.
Both nations pledged to advance the Philippines’ green transition, with a focus on offshore wind energy.
The JETCO discussions also highlighted agricultural cooperation following the recent lifting of bans on UK beef and poultry exports to the Philippines, estimated at £80 million over five years.
The countries agreed to further collaborate on animal disease detection and antimicrobial resistance, aiming to protect and expand market access for agri-food exporters.
The Philippines and the UK discussed ways to improve utilization of the Developing Countries Trading Scheme, which offers Philippine exporters tariff-free access to 92 percent of products entering the UK market.
Officials also discussed plans to launch an export handbook detailing regulatory compliance requirements, to strengthen the business landscape and facilitate investment and trade digitalization.
The UK was the largest single investor in the Philippines in 2024, driven by renewables investments. Total trade between the Philippines and the UK in the first three quarters of 2024 reached £2.8 billion.