The UK and the Philippines agreed a refreshed programme of work at the second Joint Economic and Trade Committee meeting in Metro Manila on 22 September 2026. UK Minister of State for Trade Anas Sarwar and Philippine Undersecretary Allan B. Gepty endorsed cooperation across agriculture, energy, infrastructure and economic development, with delivery planned over the next 12-18 months through sector working groups and public- and private-sector partners. Priorities include agricultural market access, offshore wind, civil nuclear energy, grid modernisation, trade digitalisation and space. The sides also welcomed a planned agriculture trade and cooperation memorandum of understanding, a Financing Framework due to be signed on 23 September, and continued efforts to increase use of the UK Developing Countries Trading Scheme, whose 2025 utilisation rate was 68%. Bilateral trade in goods and services totalled £3.1 billion in the four quarters to the end of the first quarter of 2026.