PH, UK boost partnership
THE Philippines and the United Kingdom has signed the Joint Framework for the Philippines-UK Enhanced Partnership program.
The agreement was signed following the meeting of Secretary for Foreign Affairs Enrique Manalo and UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy in Manila that envisioned to chart the depth and direction of PH-UK relations across various areas.
The Joint Framework is driven by specific sectoral dialogue mechanisms on political, economic, defense, maritime, science and technology, and climate and environment cooperation, including climate change adaptation and resilience and biodiversity conservation.
Prior to the signing of the Joint Framework, the Foreign Secretaries met and discussed the deepening of PH-UK relations, particularly citing the growing trade and investment activities between the two countries.
The bilateral trade between the two countries has been recorded at GBP2.9 billion in recent years.
The UK is one of the country’s top sources of foreign direct investments. UK investments, particularly in renewable energy, are expected to grow further, with recent UK investments in solar power projects in Nueva Ecija and Batangas amounting to more than USD600 million
Both secretaries committed to the conclusion of an Implementing Arrangement under the 2024 MOU on Defense Cooperation.
Manalo cited the two countries’ participation in joint military exercises and maritime patrols, as well as the port calls and visits of British naval vessels in the country.
They also looked forward to the conclusion of negotiations on several draft agreements dealing on health, information sharing to improve maritime domain awareness and climate financing.
