Government woos more British firms to invest in Philippines

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines is wooing more British firms to put their resources and invest in the country in a bid to further grow the local economy.

On the sidelines of the Philippine Economic Briefing in London, Finance Secretary Ralph Recto and the rest of the economic team met with British investors to encourage them to do business in the country.

“We are confident that our meetings left British investors with no doubt about the predictability, stability, profitability and sustainability of doing business in the Philippines,” Recto said.

I trust that our dialogues will open the floodgates of more opportunities for mutually beneficial partnerships ventures that will not only help them make more money but also enable the Philippines to reduce poverty to single digits and secure a brighter future for Filipinos, he said.

Among the top-tier British firms that the economic team had a meeting with include Actis, BP Plc, Global Infrastructure Partners, InvestCorp, Alexander Mann Solutions and Revolut.

Actis is a global investment firm focused on the private equity, energy, infrastructure and real estate asset classes.

Last month, it invested $600 million for a 40-percent stake in Manila Electric Co.’s Solar Philippines New Energy Corp. to build Terra Solar, which is set to become the world’s largest integrated renewable energy and storage project.

Also related to energy is global energy giant BP Plc that has a foothold in the Philippines through Castrol, which markets and distributes high-performance automotive lubricants.

On the other hand, Global Infrastructure Partners is an investment fund focused on the energy, transport and water sectors. It has approximately $170 billion in assets under management, comprising 300 active investments in over 100 countries.

InvestCorp is a leading global manager of alternative investment products for private and institutional clients. Their six asset classes include private equity, real estate, absolute return investments, infrastructure, credit management and strategic capital.

Further, Alexander Mann Solutions is a global provider of talent acquisition services, including recruitment process outsourcing, total talent acquisition, managed services programs and consulting services.

Its Philippine operations are its second-largest offshore delivery center after Poland.

The delegation also met with Revolut, the largest fintech company in the UK and operates across key markets in Asia including Japan, Australia, Singapore and New Zealand.