These webpages are for all our friends and colleagues in the diplomatic and development community, the Philippine government, and the many British citizens generating business here for the Philippine and UK economies or travelling to the Philippines great tourist spots. I hope too that it will be of value for the thousands of Filipinos keenly interested in our country, especially those with relatives or friends living and working in the United Kingdom.

The Philippines is a country that matters to the UK, for economic, political, and cultural reasons.

Trade and investments are the most visible signs of our relationship. Last year the United Kingdom topped the list for both foreign direct  and portfolio investments to the Philippines,  bringing in almost five billion dollars. British companies like HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, Shell, BG, Atkins, Virgin, Balfour Beatty and many more are generating jobs for tens of thousands of Filipinos, and making a major contribution to the country’s economy.

But our relationship goes beyond the economic.  We also share many common interests on  key strategic issues, including climate change, human rights, notably in countries like Burma, and the fight against terrorism. The Embassy has many programmes aimed at improving economic governance in the Philippines, developing a closer understanding of our common interests with the Muslim communities, and we hope bringing a lasting peace to Mindanao. Details of some of the outputs from these programmes are on our website.

The contribution of Filipinos working in Britain, especially in the health sector, is legendary, and they are now joined by hundreds of Filipinos studying or teaching in our schools and universities. The British Alumni Association of students who have studied in Britain is thriving.

These shared business, strategic and educational interests are underlined by the growing number of high level exchanges between our two countries. In 2007 President Macapagal –Arroyo visited London for the second time in 15 months, and she called on Her Majesty The Queen. HRH The Duke of York, the UK’s Special Representative for Trade and Investment, and The Lord Mayor of the City of London visited the Philippines in 2006, and this year Foreign Office Minister Meg Munn and Minister of Trade and Investment Digby, Lord Jones of Birmingham will be in Manila. Lord Jones opens our new, purpose built Embassy in Taguig in October, which is a striking example of our growing interests here.

This webpage is a chance for us to return the legendary hospitality for which Filipinos are internationally famous and which I have had the good fortune to savour for over 3 years. I hope that not only will it be a site for information, dissemination and exchange, but also a forum for strengthening the friendship between our people.

Welcome to the new webpage of the Embassy of the United Kingdom: Mabuhay!