UK explores investment opportunities in Cebu

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The British government is scouting investment opportunities in Cebu, particularly in renewable energy and waste management, as the province grapples with rolling power outages and mounting solid waste concerns.

Andrew Bowes, political counselor at the British Embassy in Manila, told local journalists during a visit here that the United Kingdom (U.K.) sees openings in Cebu’s energy and infrastructure sector even as it has yet to identify concrete projects in the province.

“We’ve started looking for where the opportunities might be, but I’m not aware at the moment of where specifically in Cebu the opportunities are,” Bowes said in a press conference on Aug. 13.

READ MORE: Cebu province’s July inflation eases but still in double digits

The envoy had met with local officials such as Gov. Pamela Baricuatro and Cebu City Mayor Nestor Archival, as well as local chambers of commerce, to gauge investment prospects and challenges facing UK businesses.

Power crunch

The visit comes as Cebu and other parts of the Visayas continue to experience rotating power interruptions, with the grid placed on red and yellow alerts for nearly two months due to plants operating below capacity.

READ MORE: Visayas power woes may ease by Aug. 30 – NGCP

Bowes acknowledged the crisis had been “clearly something that’s been in your news” and said the UK’s experience managing decentralized, renewable-heavy grids could be relevant as the Philippines pursues its energy transition.

He pointed to UK-based Actis’ investment in what he described as one of the world’s largest solar power plants, in Mindanao, as the country’s most recent large-scale energy commitment.

READ MORE: Pax Silica: Gov’t won’t fund AI hub in New Clark City

He also floated UK expertise in waste-to-energy technology as a possible answer to the province’s waste management challenges.

On investment climate, Bowes said the Philippines’ English-speaking, AI-adept workforce remains its strongest selling point for foreign capital.

But he flagged restrictions on foreign ownership and inconsistent regulatory clarity as recurring hurdles for investors weighing the market.

The counselor’s visit in Cebu falls within the 80th anniversary of UK-Philippine diplomatic relations, a year that has also seen Britain’s newly appointed foreign secretary travel to Manila for the ASEAN Foreign Ministerial Meeting.

“And as you know, there are really strong people-to-people links between the UK and the Philippines,” Bowes said.

His Cebu trip also touched on governance and press freedom, with the UK, as co-chair of the Media Freedom Coalition, offering to highlight cases of harassment against journalists.

“We’re always very interested in human rights and understanding how we can ensure that those various commitments that the Philippines signed up to over the years,” he said.

Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Cebudailynews. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.