UK to promote Asia as next business-growth center

The United Kingdom plans to promote business opportunities in Asia, including the Philippines, stressing importance of emerging markets to British business, a UK government official said Thursday. "If we are looking for growth, we should be looking to Asia. Asia is driving the global recovery and its growing middle classes are seeking more of what we can produce," Vince Cable, the UK state secretary for business, said in a statement. The British Embassy in Manila identified 12 key Asian markets, including China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, India, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, South Korea, and Philippines. Those Asian economies accounted for 10.3 percent of Britain's export shipments worth £23.2 billion in 2009. The Philippines is also among the Top 10 global emerging markets, where businesses would likely enter over the next five years, according to a survey of over 540 companies commissioned by UK Trade & Investments — the government’s trade department — in September 2009. Other emerging markets that placed in the survey were Brazil, Russia, India, and China. British Ambassador to the Philippines Stephen Lillie, meanwhile, said that the Philippines holds a ‘promising future’ because of its English-speaking workforce, natural resources, and strategic location. "The Philippines has engaged over nine years of continual economic growth. We hope that the incoming Philippine administration will take active measures to make the country an even more attractive place to do business, including by curbing corruption and investing in infrastructure," Lillie said in a statement. The UKTI is ready to identify opportunities in the fast-growing East Asian markets for its investors, Lillie said. Lillie and other British envoys in the region would be meeting investors in London next July to entice more British investment The UKTI, in partnership with the Royal Bank of Scotland, will promote Asian opportunities to clients, provide experts from Asia at events, and run sessions on trade finance. "More and more businesses are already seeking our help to succeed in these markets," said Andrew Cahn, the UKTI chief executive. —VS, GMANews.TV