PRESS STATEMENT ON THE MEETING BETWEEN PH SECRETARY FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS ENRIQUE A. MANALO AND UK FOREIGN SECRETARY DAVID LAMMY MP
8 MARCH 2025, MANILA
The Right Honourable David Lammy
Delegates from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office,
Colleagues from the Department of Foreign Affairs,
Friends from the media,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Good afternoon,
Following our brief yet insightful meeting at the Munich Security Conference and my recent visit to London, I am pleased to again see UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy in Manila.
In less than a year, Secretary Lammy and I have met three times: first in the ASEAN Ministers’ Meeting in July last year, then in Munich last month, and today in the Philippines. Our continued high-level engagements demonstrate firm commitment to reinforcing the Enhanced Partnership between our countries, now and in the years to come.
The Philippines’ Enhanced Partnership with the UK is an inspired testament to the strong and deep formal, sectoral, and people-to-people relations between the Philippines and the United Kingdom.
We resolve to take this commitment further, with the signing today of the Philippines-UK Joint Framework that is envisioned to chart the depth and direction of our Enhanced Partnership across various areas in the years ahead.
Since we launched our Enhanced Partnership in 2021, our two countries have seen impressive growth in our economic links, with our total bilateral trade reaching £ 2.9 billion in recent years.
The UK also remains among the Philippines’ top investment partners, with companies such as Unilever, Shell, HSBC, Standard Chartered, and AstraZeneca aiding our countries’ economic vibrancy and growth.
We anticipate the continuous growth of UK investments in the country, particularly on renewable energy, with recent investments from the United Kingdom on solar power projects amounting to more than 600 million USD. We are committed to maximize the potential of partnership with the UK on offshore wind farms in the country.
Today, Secretary Lammy and I agreed to sustain cooperation on matters of pressing mutual concern such as defense and security, human rights, maritime, and economic resilience.
We are working on a number of proposed agreements such as an Implementing Arrangement under our 2024 MOU on Defense Cooperation, and an MOU on information sharing concerning improving our maritime domain awareness.
Recognizing the gains of both the Philippines and the UK, we agreed to continue participation and exchanges in joint military exercises and maritime patrols, as well as port calls of British naval vessels. Last year, we welcomed the two visits of HMS Spey, an offshore patrol vessel of the Royal Navy.
We are also set to launch the inaugural PH-UK Joint Economic Committee (JETCO) meeting in London later this month, upgrading further our dialogue on economic cooperation. The JETCO also aims to further develop cooperation in key areas such as Infrastructure development, agriculture, and energy including renewables.
On climate change financing strategy, we are negotiating an MOU on financing of climate change adaptation and resilience projects that may also involve local governments and business communities.
We thank the UK for its humanitarian support, amounting to a pledge of £1 million, for the Philippines’ response to the various typhoons that hit the country last year.
We have also remained dedicated partners in bringing sustained peace and development in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. The UK’s programs in BARMM focus on gender and development, women’s participation in social development, and institution building.
Under the Framework that we signed today, we will build on these achievements and pursue new engagements with the UK to set the stage for wider, deeper, and practical ways forward that benefit our countries as much as our region.
Later this year, we will also hold the next iteration of our sectoral dialogue mechanisms on defense, maritime, and climate and environment, and possibly conclude various agreements in defense and security, ICT, maritime, and financial cooperation.
The proposed PH-UK agreement on financial cooperation will particularly unlock a £5.2 billion credit facility for the Philippines through the UK Export Finance, on 15 key sectors including agriculture, transportation, ICT, water sanitation, and health.
Our meeting today and the signing of the Joint Framework of the Philippines-UK Enhanced Partnership also set in motion parallel preparations to commemorate the 80th Anniversary of the Establishment of the Philippine-UK Diplomatic Relations in 2026.
Secretary Lamy and I also took the opportunity today to exchange views on many regional and global issues, determined to find more common grounds in emphasizing our commitment to democracy, international law, and a rules-based international order.
I express the Philippines’ appreciation for the UK’s firm support of a free, peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific region, and we welcome the UK’s Indo-Pacific Approach towards a more deliberate engagement in the region, including the Philippines. We are as invested as the UK and other friends and partners in making the Indo-Pacific an engine of growth and prosperity.
We look forward to our future engagements with the UK under our Enhanced Partnership and in preparations for the celebration of our 80th Anniversary of official relations.
We thank Foreign Secretary Lammy for his visit to the Philippines today, providing yet again a strong statement of commitment to our shared values, and adding momentum to our robust bilateral cooperation.
Thank you and good afternoon.