More British firms seen flocking to PH in 2016

British investors remained keen in doing business in the Philippines, with the growing interest seen largely focused on key sectors such as energy, retail, food and beverage, the British Chamber of Commerce Philippines (BCCP) said Monday.

BCCP chair Chris Nelson said in a briefing that while 2015 was a good year for Philippine-British relations, they expect 2016 would be better. He said business opportunities would be available for British companies to set up shop here or find suitable local partners.

Nelson said the BCCP, through its various programs, helped put the Philippines in the radar of many investors based in the United Kingdom. He said BCCP assisted many British firms in terms of providing market assistance in the form of market research, referrals, business-focused events, trade missions, and market introductions. These activities helped UK-based investors to explore business opportunities and find suitable partners for their businesses.

The group vowed to continue this year aggressively implementing programs that would help sustain the interest and lock the gains achieved in the past years.

“Now the Philippines is there (within that radar), and there is (growing) awareness. This is a good opportunity to keep the momentum going,” Nelson added.

For this year, the BCCP has lined up a number of activities, many of which are in partnership with the UK Trade and Investment office in Manila, the British Embassy in Manila, and other British chambers in the region. These include upcoming webinars about trade and investment opportunities in food and beverage and retail, panel discussions on current events, participation in speaking engagements in the region and trade missions on power and renewable energy.

Since the BCCP started its Business Support Service (BSS) in April 2014, the group has so far assisted some 700 British companies engaged in various industries such as retail, food and beverage, architectural services, pharmaceutical and skin care, ICT and software, seismic services, gaming, security, infrastructure, recruitment, as well as business consultancy services.

Nine other British companies had likewise benefited from the cross-sector trade mission that the BCCP had organized in November last year. Some of these companies were identified as Foster+Partners, Turner & Townsend, Varcando, MET Studio Hong Kong, ATG Access Ltd., and Economic Energy UK Ltd.