The Philippines and the United Kingdom are close to sealing a government-to-government (G2G) partnership that will give the country access to a 5-billion-pound funding facility from the UK Export Finance (UKEF), British Ambassador to the Philippines Laure Beaufils said.
During a media reception at her residence on Wednesday evening, Beaufils shared that a memorandum of understanding (MOU) is being finalized to activate the UKEF funding, which could support major infrastructure projects across the country.
“We’re still finalizing a government-to-government MOU which will enable us to tap into that money because right now there are still some challenges to procurement. So, we hope that will happen over the course of the next three months or something,” Beaufils said.
She cited that the Marcos administration’s infrastructure flagship projects, such as railways, ports, roads, and bridges, could use this funding from the British government so long as 20 percent of the contract value of the project is sourced from the UK.
She said the funding may come in various forms, such as bank loan support or guarantees, making it easier for the Philippines to acquire British products and services.
“It’s really about supporting British exports to the Philippines, right? So, the 5 billion pounds can take the form of guarantees. It can be to support a loan from a bank. It could be taking lots of different forms to enable the Philippines to basically buy British products,” she added.
Only 20 percent of British content is required for the project to qualify for 100 percent financing, Beaufils said, noting that the UKEF funding has increased from 4 billion pounds in recent years.
The British envoy is also optimistic that London and Manila would further increase their bilateral trade, which improved by 15 percent in 2024 to 2.8 billion pounds. (PNA)
