DTI, PPP Center holding roadshow in UK

MANILA, Philippines–The Department of Trade and Industry and the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Center are holding a roadshow in the United Kingdom in June to make a pitch for investments in the country’s infrastructure projects and other sectors deemed crucial in sustaining inclusive growth.

“We are talking about a roadshow that the DTI and PPP Center are planning in June in the UK. That will be a big push particularly for the infrastructure projects that are being approved now. We are going to bring government representatives, Philippine investors, contractors (to make their pitch) as well as British companies who are operating here and who can speak of the opportunities here,” British Ambassador Asif Ahmad said on Friday.

The target, according to Ahmad, was to have at least 250 big companies and about 50 small and medium sized enterprises to participate in the two-day roadshow. This will give prospective UK investors the opportunity to hear the Philippines’ success story.

According to Ahmad, the roadshow will feature investment opportunities not only in infrastructure, but also in other sectors, depending on what the Philippine government wanted to highlight.

“We’re now talking about a great potential in Asia, the difference is that in the Philippines, things are really beginning to happen,” he said.

UK-based companies, Ahmad added, continued to flock to the Philippines which they believed had grown to become “an exciting market” given its expanding “spending population.”

Proof of this growing interest in the Philippines was the turnout at the Great British Festival held last weekend, which was participated by 58 British companies. This was twice the number of companies that took part in the same event last year.

“All the retail brands are here. If you look at cars, you already have the Jaguar, Land Rover and Mini Cooper. Aston Martin (Lagonda Ltd.) is expected to come this year, while Morgan Motor Co. came in last year. This year, more retail brands are coming in,” Ahmad said.

“Costa Coffee will open this year and will partner with some of the big and well-known supermarkets and retailers in the country,” he added.

Costa Coffee is a British multinational coffeehouse company that has set its sights in the Philippines as the next market for expansion in Southeast Asia.

Matt Kenley, international operations manager for Costa Coffee SEA and India, announced last year that the company was targeting to put up 80 Costa Coffee shops in the country within five years.

The Philippines, which was reportedly the fourth country that Costa Coffee was exploring in Southeast Asia, was deemed to be a thriving market with a huge potential, due largely to its robust economic growth and strong coffee culture, Kenley said during a conference last year.

The Philippines’ growing attractiveness as an investment destination has lured many British companies to tap investment opportunities in the country. At present, there are more than 200 British companies active in the Philippines, several of them have long been operating in the country. These include Shell, HSBC, Unilever, Standard Chartered, Marks and Spencer, Pru Life, de La Rue, GSK, AstraZeneca, Arup and Halcrow.