The British Business Delegation To The Philippines will take place during 23 – 28 February 2020.
The PBBC are delighted to be working with the British Embassy, British Chamber of Commerce in Manila and the Makati Business Club, to offer U.K. companies this unique opportunity to do business or invest in the Philippines. Please put the dates in your diary and make contact early to secure your place on the Business Delegation.
THIS EVENT IS MULTI-SECTOR AND OPEN FOR ALL
The British Business Delegation to the Philippines will include new and experienced exporters, investors, those looking to source from the market and those looking to outsource services to the Philippines. There is already strong, growing interest in tourism in the Philippines so anyone looking to increase tourism connections is also encouraged to apply. The delegation will be led by a senior and experienced PBBC Member from the UK with extensive experience of doing business in the Philippines.
Programme
The program for the delegation will include political, economic and
sector briefings, business matchmaking events, site visits, business receptions
and networking opportunities. One-to-one meetings can be added for a small
additional fee. There will also be time for delegates to take the opportunity
to explore the bustling city of Manila.
Travel & Hotel Package
The delegation will fly Philippine Air Lines (PAL) – the flag carrier of the Philippines (direct flight between London and Manila). The travel package cost will include flight, hotel accommodation for the duration of the visit and connections.
The Philippines
The Philippines is one of the fastest growing global economies and has a rapidly expanding services industry. Economic growth has accelerated in recent years, averaging 6% GDP growth per year from 2011 to 2018 and is expected to expand at a solid pace through 2019/20 (Focus Economics). Now is the perfect time to explore the exciting business opportunities the Philippines has to offer.
More information
For more information and to sign up to the delegation please contact Melissa Dizon on 07741 654362 or by email at melissad@martellobc.co.uk www.facebook.com/britishbusinessdelegationphilippines2020
• The Philippine economy remained one of the fastest growing in Asia, along with Vietnam and China. The PH Government is expecting a 6.5 percent GDP growth in 2018. The PH government will report on the 2018 GDP performance next week.
Inflation
• Inflation averaged 5.2 per cent last year, its quickest pace since the global financial crisis a decade ago.
Employment
• The annual employment rate in 2018 was estimated at 94.7 percent; annual unemployment rate was 5.3 percent.
• The total employed persons in the country in 2018 was approximately 41.2 million in 2018.
Budget (Revenues and Expenditure)
• In the first 11 months of 2018, the government’s budget balance swayed to a US $9.1 billion deficit, 96 percent higher than US $4.6 billion shortfall registered in the comparable period in 2017.
Foreign Direct Investment / Portfolio Investment
• FDI net inflows for the first ten months of 2018 reached US$8.5 billion, an increase of 1.8 percent from the US$8.4 billion net inflows in the comparable period in 2017. The government has projected overall FDI to hit $10.4 billion for the entire 2018.
Remittances
• Personal remittances from OFWs in January – November 2018 reached US$29.1 billion, 2.9 percent higher than the level posted a year ago.
• The bulk of cash remittances for the first eleven months of 2018 came from the US, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Japan, United Kingdom, Qatar, Canada, Germany, and Hong Kong. Cash remittances from these countries accounted for almost 79 percent of total cash remittances.
• Cash remittances from the UK to the Philippines increased by 9.2 per cent at US$1.3 billion from US$1.2 billion for the same period in 2017. UK remains the top source of overseas Filipino remittances in Europe, representing 35.6 % of the total remittances from the region.
Tourists
• International tourist arrivals in the first three quarters of 2018 reached 5.8 million travellers. Of these, 1.2 million are from South Korea and almost a million from China. On a national basis, South Korea provides 20 per cent of the tourists coming to the country.
• Arrivals of UK visitors have reached 163,000 visitors within the first three quarters of 2018 – this represents a 9.73 per cent increase from the same period in 2017.
• The UK visitors from the Philippines means the UK still ranks as the top visitor market for the Philippines in Europe.
After nearly 18 years as UK Chairman of the PBBC, Nigel Rich has stepped down as Chairman and handed the reins over to Peter Beckingham as the new Chairman.
Peter knows the Philippines well having been the British Ambassador in Manila from 2005 to 2009.
ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE AND INDICATORS – September 2018
Gross Domestic Product
• The Philippine’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) slows down by 6 percent in the second quarter of the year. GDP grew by 6.8 percent in the first quarter of the year.
• NEDA has attributed the slowdown to policy decisions which would promote sustainable and resilient development.
• The growth in the 2nd quarter of the year was mainly driven by Manufacturing, Trade, and construction.
Trade / Exports / Imports
• The Philippines’ total external trade in goods In July 2018 reached US$15.25 billion, indicating an increase of 17.5 percent from US$12.97 billion recorded during the same month in 2017.
• From January to July, total imports payments went up by 15.7 percent to US$61.234 billion in 2018 from US$52.923 billion in 2016, whereas, total export receipts shrank by 2.8 percent at US$38.744 billion in 2018 from US$39.869 billion in 2017.
• The country’s balance of trade in goods (BoT-G) yielded a US$22.49 billion deficit in January to July 2017, 72.3 percent bigger than the US$13.055 billion trade gap in same period of 2017.
Inflation
• The headline inflation rate at the national level further accelerated by 6.4 percent in August 2018. In the previous month, inflation was posted at 5.7 percent and in August 2017, 2.6 percent.
• The indices of the following commodity groups recorded higher annual increases during the month: Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages (8.5%); Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco (21.6%); Furnishing, Housing Equipment (3.5%); Health and Restaurant and Miscellaneous Goods and Services (4.0%); and Recreation and Culture (2.4).
Employment
• As of July 2018, the unemployment rate was estimated at 5.4 percent. The unemployment rate in July 2017 was 5.6 percent.
• Estimates showed that 94.6 percent of the labour force population were employed in July, a slight increase from 94.4 percent last year.
Budget (Revenues and Expenditure)
• From January to June, government revenue collections vis-à-vis spending narrowed fiscal deficit to US$3.5 Billion, due to improved collections thanks to the new tax reform law (TRAIN law).
• Revenue collections reached US$26 Billion in the first half of the year.
• Government disbursements reached US$29.6 Billion or 20 percent higher than the US$24.6 Billion in the same period in 2017.
Foreign Direct Investment / Portfolio Investment
• For the first semester of the year, Foreign direct investments (FDI) grew by 165 percent to US$14.5 billion from US$5.5 billion for the same period in 2017, reflecting continued confidence of investors in the Philippine economy.
• By country, Indonesia topped all foreign investors with US$118 million, followed by Japan with US$48 million and China with US$16 million worth of investments.
Foreign Exchange Reserves
• The country’s foreign exchange reserves buffer improved to US$77 billion in August, up 1.4 percent from July’s US$76 billion.
• As of end-August, the Bangko Sentral has foreign investments of US$61.68 billion, higher than the previous month’s US$60.74 billion. Gold reserves however fell to US$7.62 billion from US$7.78 billion in July.
Remittances
• Data from Bangko Sentral showed that money sent by OFWs recovered in July this year. OFW personal remittances grew by 4.5 percent in July to US$2.7 billion. On a cumulative basis, personal remittances grew by 3 percent year-on-year to US$18.5 billion.
• More than 79 percent of total cash remittances came from the US, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Singapore, Japan, UK, Qatar, Canada, Germany, and Hong Kong.
• There are currently 10 million overseas Filipinos worldwide.
• From January to July 2018, cash remittances from the UK to the Philippines increased by 9.9 percent at US$ 856,256,000 from US$ 799,049,000 for the same period in 2017. The UK remains the top source of overseas Filipino remittances in Europe, representing 35.36 % of the total remittances from the region.
Tourists
scene of beach in coron, philippines
• First semester tourist arrivals increased by 10.4 percent (or 3.7 million), compared to the 3.3 million arrivals recorded for the same period last year.
• Despite the closure of Boracay, tourism officials are confident that the year-end target of 7.5 million arrivals will be achieved.
• Arrivals from the UK have reached 89,782 within the first five months of this year. The UK still ranks as the 8th top visitor market for the Philippines.
Asia Diversity Summit 2018, presented by Teletech, on September 25 (a full day event) at the Manila Marriott. REGISTER HERE.
Asia Diversity Summit establishes Philippines among the elite nations of the world that recognize and support diversity and inclusion in business and society.
Asia Diversity Summit recognizes the millions of people who still live in shame and fear because of the special way they were put on this earth. Help us spread the word that ALL people can reach their highest limits by their personal contributions and not be hindered by their personal orientations.
Long known for being caring and supportive, Filipinos are leading the way in Asia in harnessing the special abilities and commitments of diverse people. Large organizations in Philippines already report LGBTQ employee participation rates as high as 20 and 30 percent.
Asia Diversity Summit features pioneering leaders speaking on inclusion strategies, common challenges and future opportunities in establishing your organization as world class.
Be with us for Asia Diversity Summit to make your organization a truly open and inclusive one for all people — especially those who identify themselves as a bit different.
Be with us for Asia Diversity Summit 2018, presented by Teletech, on Tuesday, September 25 (9:00am – 4:30pm) at the Manila Marriott. REGISTER HERE. The cost is Php5,000 and includes 5-star Marriott lunch and hors d’oeuvres (Php6,000 if paid at the door).
Speakers for Asia ECOMM Summit 2018 include:
Arthur Nowak
Senior Vice President, Asia Pacific Operations
Teletech
PRESENTER: Arthur is President and General Manager of the Teletech operations Philippines, Australia, and New Zealand entities. He is also global head of Training and Leadership Development responsible for building the skills of over 50,000 employees in the world.
Geraldine Roman
Congresswoman
Republic of the Philippines
PRESENTER: Geraldine is the first openly transgender women elected to the Congress of the Philippines. She is representative of the 1st District of Bataan following the 2016 Philippine elections. Geraldine is helping the poor by awarding scholarships and pushing for anti-discrimination laws.
Randy Estrellado
Chief Operating Officer
Maynilad Water
PRESENTER: Randy oversees one of the nation’s largest utility companies. He was previously the company’s high-regarded and long-term CFO. Randy has an MBA from Harvard and was previously CFO for Metro Pacific Investments and ABS-CBN Broadcasting.
Jimmy Nguyen
Chief Executive Officer
nChain Group
PRESENTER: Jimmy’s mission is to enable massive growth of the Bitcoin network focusing on Bitcoin Cash as the true Bitcoin. The nChain group of companies consists of world-class scientific research, engineering and other professionals primarily based in London, United Kingdom and Vancouver, Canada.
Kate Cordova
Member
Philippine Country Coordinating Mechanism of Global Fund
PRESENTER: Kate is one of the nation’s most prominent promoters of transgender issues. She is the key force behind the Association of Transgenders in the Philippines. Kate also manages a motivated group of talented people at Capital One Philippines Support Services.
Boy Abunda
TV Host
King of Talk
PRESENTER: is a Filipino television host, publicist, talent manager and celebrity endorser. He has been dubbed as the King-of-Talk in local show business.
Mark Lwin
CEO and General Manager
AIG Philippines Insurance, AIG Shared Services (Philippines)
PRESENTER: Mark is unique in that he oversees 2 demanding business operations: AIG Insurance (in the day) and AIG Shared Services (in the night). He is recent winner of the Expatriate Executive of the Year at Asia CEO Awards.
Brian Tenorio
Chair and Founder
The Philippine LGBT Chamber of Commerce
PRESENTER: Brian is currently an International Consultant for Branding and Design at the Asian Development Bank and a Design and Communications Consultant at the World Health Organization. He also chairs the Designers for Development Network New York. All this while heading his business in coffee+culture in the Philippines, Kape Coffee Co. and Tenorium Ent, his multi-disciplinary design agency in Manila.
Mark Woolfrey
Executive General Manager
QBE Group (Global Shared Services Center)
PRESENTER: Mark leads a high-profile operation with 3 sites in Manila and Cebu, providing a range of high value services supporting 34 countries across Australia / New Zealand, Asia, Europe and North American Operations. He previously ran shared services operations for ANZ Bank.
John Nicholls
Former COO
HSBC Philippines
PRESENTER: John is one of the region’s most senior banking executives with senior experience throughout the world (UK, Russia, Brazil, Peru, Azerbaijan, Taiwan, UAE, Philippines). He actively supports multiple social advocacies – corporate responsibility; diversity and inclusion; mentor to graduates working as public school teachers.
Asia Diversity Summit 2018, presented by Teletech, on September 25 (a full day event) at the Manila Marriott. REGISTER HERE.
Asia Diversity Summit establishes Philippines among the elite nations of the world that recognize and support diversity and inclusion in business and society.
Asia Diversity Summit recognizes the millions of people who still live in shame and fear because of the special way they were put on this earth. Help us spread the word that ALL people can reach their highest limits by their personal contributions and not be hindered by their personal orientations.
Long known for being caring and supportive, Filipinos are leading the way in Asia in harnessing the special abilities and commitments of diverse people. Large organizations in Philippines already report LGBTQ employee participation rates as high as 20 and 30 percent.
Asia Diversity Summit features pioneering leaders speaking on inclusion strategies, common challenges and future opportunities in establishing your organization as world class.
Be with us for Asia Diversity Summit to make your organization a truly open and inclusive one for all people — especially those who identify themselves as a bit different.
Be with us for Asia Diversity Summit 2018, presented by Teletech, on Tuesday, September 25 (9:00am – 4:30pm) at the Manila Marriott. REGISTER HERE. The cost is Php5,000 and includes 5-star Marriott lunch and hors d’oeuvres (Php6,000 if paid at the door).
Speakers for Asia ECOMM Summit 2018 include:
Arthur Nowak
Senior Vice President, Asia Pacific Operations
Teletech
PRESENTER: Arthur is President and General Manager of the Teletech operations Philippines, Australia, and New Zealand entities. He is also global head of Training and Leadership Development responsible for building the skills of over 50,000 employees in the world.
Geraldine Roman
Congresswoman
Republic of the Philippines
PRESENTER: Geraldine is the first openly transgender women elected to the Congress of the Philippines. She is representative of the 1st District of Bataan following the 2016 Philippine elections. Geraldine is helping the poor by awarding scholarships and pushing for anti-discrimination laws.
Randy Estrellado
Chief Operating Officer
Maynilad Water
PRESENTER: Randy oversees one of the nation’s largest utility companies. He was previously the company’s high-regarded and long-term CFO. Randy has an MBA from Harvard and was previously CFO for Metro Pacific Investments and ABS-CBN Broadcasting.
Jimmy Nguyen
Chief Executive Officer
nChain Group
PRESENTER: Jimmy’s mission is to enable massive growth of the Bitcoin network focusing on Bitcoin Cash as the true Bitcoin. The nChain group of companies consists of world-class scientific research, engineering and other professionals primarily based in London, United Kingdom and Vancouver, Canada.
Kate Cordova
Member
Philippine Country Coordinating Mechanism of Global Fund
PRESENTER: Kate is one of the nation’s most prominent promoters of transgender issues. She is the key force behind the Association of Transgenders in the Philippines. Kate also manages a motivated group of talented people at Capital One Philippines Support Services.
Boy Abunda
TV Host
King of Talk
PRESENTER: is a Filipino television host, publicist, talent manager and celebrity endorser. He has been dubbed as the King-of-Talk in local show business.
Mark Lwin
CEO and General Manager
AIG Philippines Insurance, AIG Shared Services (Philippines)
PRESENTER: Mark is unique in that he oversees 2 demanding business operations: AIG Insurance (in the day) and AIG Shared Services (in the night). He is recent winner of the Expatriate Executive of the Year at Asia CEO Awards.
Brian Tenorio
Chair and Founder
The Philippine LGBT Chamber of Commerce
PRESENTER: Brian is currently an International Consultant for Branding and Design at the Asian Development Bank and a Design and Communications Consultant at the World Health Organization. He also chairs the Designers for Development Network New York. All this while heading his business in coffee+culture in the Philippines, Kape Coffee Co. and Tenorium Ent, his multi-disciplinary design agency in Manila.
Mark Woolfrey
Executive General Manager
QBE Group (Global Shared Services Center)
PRESENTER: Mark leads a high-profile operation with 3 sites in Manila and Cebu, providing a range of high value services supporting 34 countries across Australia / New Zealand, Asia, Europe and North American Operations. He previously ran shared services operations for ANZ Bank.
John Nicholls
Former COO
HSBC Philippines
PRESENTER: John is one of the region’s most senior banking executives with senior experience throughout the world (UK, Russia, Brazil, Peru, Azerbaijan, Taiwan, UAE, Philippines). He actively supports multiple social advocacies – corporate responsibility; diversity and inclusion; mentor to graduates working as public school teachers.
According to the World Bank the Philippines is one of the most dynamic economies in East Asia and Pacific Region having had sustained annual growth over the past five years of 6.3 per cent.
Makati city skyline. Makati city is one of the most developed business district of metro Manila and the entire Philippines.
At this briefing, key members of the Philippines Cabinet including the Finance, Budget and Trade ministers will be discussing the key macroeconomic and infrastructure developments.
This UK-ASEAN organised briefing will provide an in-depth insight into the Philippine government’s plans for the economy and the market’s potential for international investors.
The World Bank predicts that the Philippine economy will continue its expansionary path and grow at an annual rate of 6.7 per cent in both 2018 and 2019 making it one the strongest performers among major developing economies.
The World Bank puts this performance down to increasing urbanisation, a growing middle-income class, and a large and young population. The Philippines’ economic dynamism is rooted in strong consumer demand supported by improving real incomes and robust remittances. Business activities are buoyant with notable performance in the services sector including the Business Process Outsourcing, real estate, and finance and insurance industries.
The economy is currently growing at its potential but it’s investment growth hinges on the government’s ability to effectively and timely implement its ambitious public investment program.
This briefing is a chance to hear an in-depth update on the Philippine macroeconomic and infrastructure development agendas from key figures of the Philippine cabinet listed below:
Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III
Socioeconomic Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia
Budget Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno
Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Nestor A. Espenilla, Jr.
Transportation Secretary Arthur P. Tugade
Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark A. Villar
Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi
Bases Conversion and Development Authority President & CEO Vivencio B. Dizon
The presentations will cover:
Philippine Macroeconomic Developments
Philippine Infrastructure Development Agenda
To express an interest in participation please email ‘events@ukabc.org.uk‘. This event is being organised by the Republic of the Philippines.
Finding the Philippines guide books – the best – is a must now that the travel industry has discovered the delights of the Philippines. For a long while the Philippines has been one of the best kept secrets to those in the know. Fantastic people, great cities, beautiful scenery and beaches – it has it all. But how do you research a visit to the Philippines to get the best out of your time there? The best Philippines Guide Books, of course.
We have selected two guide books out of the not so many that are available for the Philippines. Whatever your reason for going there, either of these books are widely available and comprehensively cover the country from all angles. You can easily buy them from Amazon here.
There is a massive amount of information available for travel planning these days. So we suggest first considering what your specific needs are before jumping into your research and planning. Start with a few general questions:
• Are you interested mostly in weather information, and information on health issues, visas, hotels, restaurants and shopping opportunities?
• Do you need historical and cultural background information for your travel?
• Perhaps you are looking for detailed guides to museums, art, and architecture?
• Looking for the best resorts and beaches?
• Or, do you simply need a general overview of the country you are about to visit?
Some guidebooks are good for planning your trip but not necessarily for carrying around because of their weight.
The two we would recommend are Lonely Planet and The Rough Guides.
Lonely Planet Guides
They not only offer the best guidebooks, but they literally “cover the planet”. Ask any travellers to southeast Asia and they’ll tell you that Lonely Planet is their bible. Lonely Planet guides are packed with information, they’re compact and easy to carry, and they are updated regularly. Be sure you get the most current edition, though, if possible. You can also access the many of the Lonely Planet Guides’ e-book version through Amazon Prime. With a Kindle version you can download any number of these guides and have them handy on the road.
Lonely Planet guides cover general history and give good detail about the places to visit. The ‘Getting There and Away’ sections are always good for the border crossings. Plenty of simple maps to give you an idea of where you are, and of course they always hunt out the cheapo cafes with the best mango drinks.
Use the prices as a reference point only, as some of the guides can be a few years old, and a lot can change overnight. Some Lonely Planet recommendations might even have closed down.
Some people consider they may have lost a little of their buzz but Lonely Planet are still concise and informative even if they are no way near as up-to-date as you would like. They’ve also recently updated their Philippines editions. Whatever you say about Lonely Planet you cannot deny that they are still the number one choice for many casual travellers thanks to their range of titles, easy-to-understand info and details of all the best spots for backpackers to hang out.
Rough Guides
Rough Guides were started by Mark Ellingham in 1981. While traveling in Greece he met Martin Dunford, who was in Greece teaching English at the time, and on their return to the UK Mark, Martin and a small group of writers created their own guidebook series that aimed to combine a journalistic approach to description with a practical approach to travellers’ needs. The series was initially aimed at low-budget backpackers but have since evolved to recommend off-the-beaten path suggestions for travellers on all budgets.
Rough Guides may be not so good on the map score, but I found the music section and other cultural snippets more worthwhile than some of the opinionated comments in Lonely Planet.
They’ve earnt their reputation as backpacker’s choice thanks to their focus on budget selections. Rough Guides also offer maps and phrase books in addition to their guidebooks.
Now on its 26th edition, the event has become the largest franchise show in Asia in terms of number of exhibitors and number of trade visitors. With the Philippine economy continuing to be one of the fastest growing economy in the world and the steady influx of international brands, PFA is currently positioning Franchise Asia Philippines as an international franchise expo offering investment opportunities to domestic and international visitors.
This year, the International Expo of Franchise Asia Philippines 2018 will feature 700 booths in all the 4 halls of the first floor as well as 2 function rooms on the second floor of SMX Convention Center – Manila. Among the highlights of the Expo are:
• International area featuring top international franchise brands
• Franchise investment opportunities in food, retail and service
• Food park featuring emerging food concepts
See you there!
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