Jeremy Browne MP, Minister of State of the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (above making his speech) was in the country for the second time Monday (5 December) to affirm the strong relationship between the Philippines and the UK, and to express Britain’s continuing support for Philippine development and reform in line with shared values.
Mr Browne launched a UK infrastructure investment mission which aims to promote British expertise in infrastructure and Public Private Partnerships (PPP). He highlighted the UK’s extensive PPP experience in transport, health and education sectors and also financial, legal and transaction service expertise. He cited the transformation of London for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games as a model of sustainable urban infrastructure planning and development that will benefit generations to come.
Mr Browne said:
“London is the first Olympic host city to include sustainability from Day One of preparations. It is a demonstration of the UK’s wider commitment to global goals. We look forward to welcoming Filipino athletes and spectators in July 2012.”
“I very much welcome the Philippines’ standing on PPP, and am delighted that this infrastructure investment mission will help deliver on our commitment to support the Philippines develop in this area. It is also important for the Philippines to deliver much needed infrastructure investments through clear and transparent processes.”
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Shown in photo are (from left): Secretary Gregory Domingo, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Minister Jeremy Browne, British Ambassador Stephen Lillie and Undersecretary Cristino L. Panlilio of the Trade and Investment Promotions Group.
Mr Browne also welcomed Philippine commitment to improve transparency and reduce corruption. “We are glad to be working with the Philippines in the UN Open Government Partnership. The Philippines was one of the first countries to sign up to the partnership, demonstrating President Aquino’s thrust towards good government.”
Jeremy Browne last visited the Philippines in 2010 to highlight the growing importance that the UK places on emerging powers such as the Philippines. He said that the UK sees the Asian region as playing an increasingly significant role in world affairs.
“Relations between the UK and the Philippines are as strong as they have ever been. Not only are we the largest European investor in the Philippines, we also share the same common values of freedom, democracy and respect for human rights. We speak the same language and we’re leading members in two of the world’s most important regional organisations, the EU and ASEAN.”
Note
Jeremy Browne MP, Minister of State of the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office was the guest of honour at an investments briefing Monday morning on the Philippine public-private partnership (PPP) programme at the Board of Investments (BOI).The briefing gave an overview of opportunities in infrastructure development, particularly in PPP, with the aim of raising the profile of PPP not only in the context of direct opportunities but also in harnessing the potential of these projects to boost the construction industry as a whole. During the briefing he launched a UK infrastructure investment mission which aims to promote British expertise and opportunities in infrastructure and Public Private Partnerships (PPP). He highlighted the UK’s extensive PPP experience in transport, health and education sectors and also financial, legal and transaction service expertise. Aside from the minister, the briefing featured the following speakers: Gregory Domingo (Secretary, Department of Public Works and Highways), Eleazar Ricote (Director, PPP Centre), Agusto Manalo (Incoming President, Philippine Constructors Association Inc), Arnel Casanova (President and CEO, Bases Conversion and Development Authority) and Cristino Panlilio (Undersecretary, Trade and Investment Promotions Group).
Jeremy Browne with Undersecretary Cristino L. Panlilio of the Trade and Investment Promotions Group.
Excerpts of Jeremy Browne’s speech at the Investments Briefing held this morning at the Bureau of Investments (BOI): [Spaces are when recording is not distinct]
Here in Asia, the levels of economic development are spectacular and economic growth is the fastest. And I always caution everybody at home that China is the biggest example of this phenomenon but it is certainly not the only example. The people need to look beyond China particularly into South East Asia. If South East Asia were a single country, ASEAN, it would be thought of as a global power the same way as China and India are. That is the economic potential that exists in SEA. And of course all the countries are diverse, different histories and they are in different stages of development but collectively this is a part of the world where dynamic change is happening at a very exciting rate.
I’ve read that the Philippines is the 12th most populous country in the world, certainly this is a country with real critical mass for investors. A large country, a very wide English-speaking country, a country with global outlook.
The strengths of the British economy are becoming increasingly compatible with the needs and demands of the people and the government here in the Philippines. Of course the biggest and obvious example that we are talking about today are PPP initiatives which can bring the expertise that Britain has in construction, in design, in finance, and use that to contribute to the infrastructure development that everybody tells me is absolutely essential if the Philippines is going to leap to the next stage in its development . Roads, power supplies, sewerage systems, communications – these are things that the Philippines needs to become a country with a higher growth capita GDP. I do think that is an area where there is a high degree of compatibility between the expertise that we offer and the demands of the Filipino economy.
Room Britain’s point of view, we are in a confident Europe which is very prosperous by world standards but is in a period of great difficulty and we need to make sure that within Europe we address the problems that are taking place in our continent. But I hope it means that we will be more global in our outlook, that we won’t just confine ourselves to thinking how can we have more trade with France or Germany or Spain but we’ll say, look our continent is, for a period of time now, growing quite slowly, but the opportunities in Asia are all the more spectacular. And I want more and more British business people and others to come to countries like the Philippines and (____) what opportunities exist.
I’d like to talk about the Olympic Games, partly because we are excited to hold the Olympic Games in Britain next year but this is a real showcase of what I hope Britain offers the world. Of Course it is primarily a sporting event, but it is also a showcase of what Britain can offer to a country like the Phlilippines, which is very high-tech, environmentally friendly engineering, high-quality design, high quality project management brought together on time and on budget.
When you watch the Olympic Games on TV, you will be watching some of the best design and infrastructure anywhere in the world with environmental standards (_____). The main stadium for example is built with only 1/3 of the amount of steel that would normally be needed for an 80,000-seat stadium. It’s that type of ingenuity, that type of imagination that we hope that we can offer that is both environmentally sustainable but economically beneficial as well. So we are in the business of trying to make sure that we offer solutions and we bring expertise in a way that brings great social benefit and progress to the Philippines but is also mutually beneficial to investors and the people in both countries.
About Jeremy Browne, MP Jeremy Browne was appointed Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on 14 May 2010. He has held various positions in the Liberal Democrat party, including as spokesman on Foreign Affairs and most recently as Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury. He has also been a member of the cross-party Home Affairs Committee.
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