UK-Philippines trade seen doubling to £6 billion in 5 years

British Trade and Investment Envoy George Freeman speaks to reporters on June 20, highlighting the strong and growing trade relations between the Philippines and the United Kingdom, and outlining plans to double bilateral trade in the coming years. Photo by Alden M. Monzon

MANILA, Philippines – Two-way trade between the Philippines and the United Kingdom could double to £6 billion about P463 billion over the next several years, according to George Freeman, the Prime Minister’s UK Trade Envoy.

The value of trade between the two countries was pegged at £3 billion in 2024.

Freeman said in a talk with reporters on Friday that the UK sees the Philippines as a key partner in Southeast Asia. He cited opportunities in a wide range of sectors such as defense, infrastructure, technology, health, agriculture, food and energy.

“If we develop a partnership around, say, digital economy, cybersecurity identity and tackling fraud and giving the Filipinos access to secure online trading, that’s a serious project and that alone over the next five or 10 years, if we’re serious about it, we could bring in a lot more UK investment into the Philippines,” Freeman told reporters during a media roundtable.

The UK lawmaker also said he is exploring the launch of a new support program to help both British and Philippine businesses connect, expand market access and build long-term trade partnerships.

For the Philippine-bound trade specifically, he said there is currently a £5-billion export finance facility available.

Freeman added that additional funding could be made available in the future if the current £5 billion export finance facility is effectively utilized.

Aside from these support measures, Freeman said they are also looking to bring new nuclear technology to the Philippines through small modular reactors (SMRs). These offer a more flexible and cost-efficient alternative to traditional large-scale nuclear plants.

He said they have developed the technology with British multinational public holding company Rolls-Royce Holdings.

“Each one will fuel a city. And we’re beginning to use small modular reactors. We’re experimenting to use them to fuel data centers because [artificial intelligence] consumes huge amounts of energy,” Freeman said.

He added that this new technology could be deployed to the Philippines within the next 10 years.