The Duke of Gloucester is the second son of the late Duke of Gloucester and the late Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester. He is a grandson of George V and a first cousin to The Queen. He succeeded his father as Duke of Gloucester in June 1974.

Born on 26 August 1944 at Northampton, he was christened Richard Alexander Walter George. When he was four months old he was taken by his parents to Australia, where for two years (1945-47) his father was Governor-General.

In July 1972 Prince Richard (as he was then known) married Birgitte Eva van Deurs from Odense, Denmark at St Andrew's Church, Barnwell, Northamptonshire. The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester have three children: (Alexander) Earl of Ulster, born in 1974; The Lady Davina Windsor, born in 1977; and The Lady Rose Windsor, born in 1980.

Education and Career

Prince Richard's early education was at home, before going to school at Wellesley House, Broadstairs, and Eton.

In 1963, Prince Richard went up to Magdalene College, Cambridge, where he read architecture. He graduated in 1966, having completed three years of his five-year architectural course, and then joined the (then) Offices Development Group of the Ministry of Public Building and Works for his year's practical work, returning to Cambridge in 1967.

In June 1969, he passed both parts of his Diploma in Architecture at the university. After completing his training, he went into practice as a partner in a firm of London architects.

Prince Richard had planned a full-time career in architecture but, on the death of his elder brother, he became his father's heir and took on increased royal duties and the responsibility for the family estate at Barnwell, in Northamptonshire; he therefore resigned his partnership.

Activities and Interests

The Duke of Gloucester carries out a significant number of public duties. Some are related to architecture and conservation, in which he is still deeply interested. He was elected a corporate member of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1972 and he is President of the Society of the Architect-Artists.

The Duke is also President of several architectural preservation societies, including the Pevsner Memorial Trust and the Victorian Society, and he is Patron of the International Council on Monuments and Sites, UK National Committee.

The Duke has also produced three books of photographs: On Public View (1970) which illustrated London statues, The Face of London (1973) and Oxford and Cambridge (1980).

The Duke of Gloucester's charities also include the following (as Patron): ASH (Action on Smoking and Health), British Association of Friends of Museums, , Construction Youth Trust, Council for Education in World Citizenship, Fenland Archaeological Trust, Friends of Gloucester and Peterborough Cathedrals, Society of Engineers, Pestalozzi Children's Village Trust, British Homeopathic Association, League of Friends of Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, The London Chorus, Normandy Veterans Association, New Islington and Hackney Housing Association, North East Civic Trust, Nuffield Farming Scholarships Trust, Oriental Ceramic Society, Richard III Society, Royal Anthropological Institute, Society of Antiquaries of London, Society of Architect Artists, Severn Valley Railway and the Tramway Museum.

The Duke of Gloucester has travelled extensively overseas in support of the organisations with which he is linked. For example, as President of the British Consultants Bureau, The Duke has travelled to the Ivory Coast and Senegal, China, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, the Middle East, Algeria, Tunisia, Bangladesh, Hong Kong, Portugal, Poland, Spain, the United States, Hungary, (then known as) Czechoslovakia, Ukraine, Singapore, India, Malaysia, Vietnam, Yemen, Egypt, Pakistan, Japan, Mozambique, Angola and South Africa, amongst other countries.

Honours

POLITICAL COOPERATION

Relations between the Philippines and the United Kingdom have been marked in the last seven years by a keener British interest in the economic and political developments in the country. This is well demonstrated by a sharp rise in development assistance, the number and frequency of high level visits to Manila and the significant increase in the volume of trade and investments.

The UK has always been a major bilateral partner in Europe and positive developments in the Philippines brought about by the administration’s policies in fostering political stability, economic growth and social security have attracted serious interest in the country throughout Europe.

The UK has been supportive of Philippine initiatives in the international arena, as evidence by the ongoing RP-UK Joint Initiative on Child Welfare which was launched during the Second Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM II) in London in April 1998.

• For the 5-year period covered, RP exports & imports fell at a rate of 20% and 4% respectively. Nevertheless, balance of trade continues to be in favor of RP albeit narrowing the gap.
• In 2004/05, export revenues fell sharply to 21%.
• In quantity-terms, however, total number of products expanded to 987 from 967.
• Top Eighty percent (80%) of RP exports to UK comprise these product sectors; Electronics 40% (of total RP export), Garments 21%, Transport Equipment 12%, Processed Foods 6% and, Fashion Accessories 3%.
• Traditionally, Electronics sector comprise bulk of RP exports. It however has decreased tremendously from 71% export share in 2001 to just about 40% in 2005.
• The consequence was a steady decline in total RP exports as well.
• In value-terms, year-on-year electronics revenues dipped to 25% to $173 million from $230 million.
• In particular, semi-conductor devices posted exports receipts of only $98 million, 9% down from last year’s earnings of US$108 million.
• Machineries/Transport Equipment also posted negative growth of 13% to $51 million from $58 million in 2004. In particular, automotive parts comprise about 8% of exports total and accounts for $34 million in exports sales.
• Processed foods exports also decreased relatively by 7% to $25 million. Under this sector, nuts/coconuts products and processed fruits accounts for 5% of exports total and exports sales of $22 million.
• In contrast, Garments, the second major dollar export earner, yielded positive gains, growing by 13% to US$93 million from US$82 million in 2004. In particular, women’s/girls wear rose significantly by 66% to $48 million from 2004 level.
• Nearly eighty percent (80%) of RP’s import is largely confined to industrial manufactures. It accounts for $300 million, though 9% down from 2004 level. Under its category; Electronics accounts for 26% (of total RP import), Construction materials 12%, Machineries/Transport equipment 10%, Chemicals 8% and Others (not specified) 17%.
• As an EU-25 bloc, UK remains 3^rd as RP’s export market. It, however, dropped its share to only about 6.23% (from 8.14% in 2004) of total RP exports to the EU of $6,994 million.

• Processed Food e.g. Processed Fruits, Marine Products
• Furniture, of wooden/rattan
• Christmas/holiday decors
• Garments (Apparel and clothing accessories ,leather footwear)
• Imitation Jewelry
• Information Technology services (business processes outsourcing)
• Automotive parts
• Healthcare

PROSPECTS FOR PHILIPPINE PRODUCTS

• 2005 figures shows; UK population rank s 24^th largest in the world; 8^th largest in GDP output; and the 20^th largest in per capita income.
• UK economy-one of the largest in the world0 is no longer manufacturing but services-based, with e-commerce of growing significance.
• The European Union (EU) has offered to give the Philippines’ canned tuna a special 12 percent duty and an annual quota of 25,000 metric tons.
• A member of the European Union (25) which in turn provides access to a combined export market of 480 million consumers.
• It is considered as the world’s second largest overseas investor.
• Traditionally been an exporter of manufactured goods and an importer of food and basic materials
• Imported manufactures have taken a great share of the domestic market in recent years.
• Britain’s labour market remains robust, with unemployment falling to a record low of 4.9%. Most surprising of all, older people are grabbing the new jobs. Almost a million people now work beyond the traditional retirement age.
• Social and economic pattern that could affect buying habits:
• Growing numbers of elderly people and the decline in the proportion of young people;
• Women make up nearly 46% of the workforce in employment with about 800,000 running their own business;
• Average size of household in Britain has fallen with only 2.4 in 1994;

- The fall reflects on a greater number of people living on their new or in one parent families, the increasing number of the old people (mostly living alone) and the preference for small families;

• The health and fitness sector is booming with 57% increase in expenditure over ten years;
• The pub has always been the most important social and cultural center in English Communities. A recent poll issued this year 2004 indicates that one Briton in four goes to the pub at least weekly.

* Significant shift in eating pattern over the last decade, reflecting greater emphasis on health, frozen and convenient food.

• A large increase in purchases of fruit juices, driven by perception of the beverage as healthier alternative to coffee and fizzy drinks;
• Moreover, consumers are (now) demanding more quality, premium products and produce with added vitamins, minerals and functional ingredients such as soy or omega-3;
• A switch in fish away from fresh white fish towards fat fish, canned and shellfish;

- Increase in number of meals eaten away from home, i.e. in restaurants or at work, and a growth in the consumption of food from take-away and fast food shops.

Britain has been one of the leading investors in the Philippines for the last ten years. This is due both to the pre-eminence of the City of London as a global financial center and to the involvement of major British companies in important infrastructure projects here.

The single largest British investment project in the Philippines at present is the development of the Malampaya offshore gas field, which is also currently the largest natural gas project worldwide. The upstream element of this project (development of the gas field and pipeline) requires an investment by shell Philippines Exploration (SPEX) of approximately S2 Billion, all of it raised on the London market, and all of which is recorded in the Philippine figures as portfolio investment. The downstream development of Malampaya (construction of the three power stations that will take the gas and related investment by NAPOCOR) will require further investment of almost $ 3 Billion. Half of this will be made by first Gas Holdings, in which BG International of Britain holds a 40% share, representing a further British investment of $ 600 Million.

The successful hiring of the Sta. Rita power plant in Batangas using Malampaya natural gas was reported on 03 October 2001. The Malampaya gas field is expected to yield 3.2 trillion cubic feet of clean fuel and provide the Government with an estimated revenue of between US$ 8-10 billion over the next 20 years.

Other major investments by British companies have been made in partnership with local companies, so that the full extent of British investments are often not widely known. BPAmoco is 20% investment partner in Bataan Polyethylene Corporation, the value of which is around $320 Million. United Utilities is a partner with Ayala Corporation and Bechtel in Manila Water Co., and Blue Circle has made major investments in the local cement industry. To these must be added long established holdings, such as direct investments in wholly owned manufacturing operations.

DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION

The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Governments of the Philippines and the United Kingdom on Concessional Financing Agreements (CFA) was concluded on 1 September 1995. The MOU defined the terms and conditions of financing under the British Aid and Trade Provision (ATP) scheme. The financing facility amounted to £50 million (approx. US$75 million), composed of 35% grant and 65% commercial credit (payable in 10 years, usually no grace period, with an interest rate of 6.5-8.5% p.a. depending on the prevailing OECD consensus rate).

The Philippine and British Governments agreed during the February 1996 Bilateral Consultations on CFA that all projects proposed for British financing shall be subjected to a national competitive bidding (NCB). Should there be only one British supplier with the capability to undertake the Philippine project, the British government shall issue an official certification indicating such case.

U.K. aid is normally offered in association with an Export Credit Guarantee Department (ECGD) supported export credit for the part of the supported package not covered by the aid. Until such time as ECGD receives a detailed application showing the scope of supply, it is not possible to know what the precise credit terms will be. The repayment terms usually cover between 5 to 10 years. However, these terms are offered based on internally agreed terms and conditions for the Philippines at that given note. The offer of aid does not imply that ECGD cover will be made available.

An RP-UK Action Agenda 2000-2004 was signed on 26 June 2000 during the visit of Rt. Hon. John Battle, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the United Kingdom and Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The Action Agenda set forth the following new areas of cooperation over the period 2000-2004:

• political cooperation
• economic cooperation – e.g., sustain the existing development cooperation through the Aid and Trade provisions (ATP) scheme and/or other financing modalities
• financial sector cooperation
• agriculture - e.g., exchange of expertise, experience and technology to achieve competitiveness through agricultural modernization; explore alternative approaches for enhancing collaboration in integrated, diversified agricultural, marine and aqua culture enterprises; promote exchange of experiences in biotechnology regulation
• environment
• poverty reduction - e.g., strengthen collaboration on anti-poverty programmes and projects in areas identified by both parties; facilitate the sharing of best practices and experiences in poverty reduction
• cultural relations
• tourism
• maritime matters - e.g., to promote the exchange of expertise, experience and technology in the maritime field
• consular cooperation
• defense cooperation
• legal cooperation
• regional and multilateral cooperation

FOCUS OF FUTURE DEVELOPMENT

Under OECD rule, only economically-viable projects which are financially non-viable could be considered under the scope of commercial tied-assistance such as the CFA. Hence, traditional projects under the power and telecommunications sectors, except those located in rural and unviable areas, are not eligible under the facility. Under the Labour-led government, British ODA thru CFA has been refocused on projects that directly support poverty alleviation programs of the Philippine government.

List of Ongoing Projects

• Salam (Peace) Bridges Project
  Implementing Agency: DPWH-ARMM
  Loan Amount: £5.4 million
  
• Tulay ng Pangulo sa Barangay
  Implementing Agency: DPWH/Office of the President
  Loan Amount: £98 million
  
• Tulay ng Pangulo para sa SZOPAD
  Implementing Agency: Office of the President
  Loan Amount: £139.13 million
  
• National Road Bridge Replacement Project
  Implementing Agency: DPWH
  Loan Amount: £25 million

Projects in the Pipeline

• Air Services Agreement

signed, 10 June 1976
ratified, 16 January 1981
entered into force, 23 January 1978

• Social Security Agreement

signed, 27 February 1985
ratified 08 June 1989 (UK); 09 August 1989 (RP)
entered into force, 01 December 1989

• Agreement on the Promotion and Protection of Investments

signed, 03 1980
entered into force, 02 January 1981

• Reciprocal Radio Licensing Agreement

Exchange of notes and entered into force, 22 October 1982

signed, 24 March 1988

signed, 04 February 1986
entered into force, 04 February 1986

• Memorandum of Understanding on Defense Cooperation

signed, 03 January 1996

• £ 50 Million Concessional Financing Arrangement

signed, 01 September 1995

• Memorandum of Understanding on Combatting Child Abuse

signed, 30 August 1997

• MOU on Women’s and Children’s Protection Course

signed, 30 August 1997

• RP-UK Action Agenda

signed, 26 June 2000

• RP-UK National Roads Bridge Replacement Project (ATP) Grant 2001

signed, 12 November 2001
Extended on 31 July 2004

• RP-UK Agreement on the Hiring of Filipino Nurses

signed, 08 January 2002

• RP-UK Agreement on the Recognition of Certificates under Regulation 1/10 of the STCW Convention

under negotiation

• MOU on Collaboration in Power Sector Development and Sustainable Energy Research and Development and Technology Transfer

signed on 13 January 2003
original is still with DOE for issuance of full powers
for ratification

• RP-UK MOU on Healthcare Cooperation

signed, 30 July 2003
ratified on 09 March 2004

On hold per letter of SFA Blas F. Ople to DOJ Secretary Datumanong dated April 2003 re: Agreement on Transfer of Sentenced Person.

02-04 December 2004 - Official Visit of HRH The Duke of York, Special Trade and Investment Representative of the UK

28 January 2002 - Working Visit of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to London, the United Kingdom

19-20 December 1996 - Visit of HRH The Duke of York who called on the President and met with AFP officials

5-10 October 1996 - Visit of HRH The Duke of Gloucester, with a 20-member delegation of the British Consultants
Bureau.

20-24 January 1996 - Baroness Margaret Thatcher, former British Prime Minister as a speaker for the Citibank
Asian Leadership Series. The Baroness called on President Ramos on 22 January 1996.

11-14 March 1999 - Visit of HRH The Princess Royal (Princess Anne).

3 July 1997 - Visit of HRH the Prince of Wales to Manila.

There is a significant Filipino population in the UK. Over the past twenty years the number of Filipinos living and working in the UK has increased by more than 750% to 95,000. Of this number, about 70% live in Central London.

The Filipino community works in a variety of sectors, ranging from IT, aviation, education and healthcare. Increasingly, Filipino engineers and information technology experts have been recruited to the UK in significant numbers. Over the past two years, about a hundred of these engineers have been working in the aeronautical maintenance departments, while others have been working for railway companies.

Since 2001, several dozen IT experts have been working with British telecommunication companies such as Vodafone, T-Mobile, and Orange in software development, as well as with computer companies working on e-commerce solutions.

Perhaps the Filipino community is best known for the contribution it makes to the healthcare sector. In the past three (3) years, more than 20,000 Filipinos were recruited into the health service, most of whom are nurses serving in the National Health Sector (NHS), while the remainder work in the independent healthcare sector – mostly private nursing homes.

Filipino nurses are consistently recognized for their high standards of professionalism. Over the next couple of years, it is anticipated that the number of Filipinos in the healthcare sector will grow significantly as the need arises for more doctors and medical technologists in the UK.

The NHS and Filipino Nurses

The first wave of Filipino nurses was recruited around the early 1970s when the UK government embarked on its Hospital Plan. At that time, around a thousand were estimated to have been recruited to the various hospitals in the UK countryside. Many of these Filipinos still remain as practicing senior nurses and supervisors in various NHS Trusts.

The second wave of Filipino nurses was recruited starting early 1999 when the Labour Government unfolded its new approach of addressing the problems of long waiting lists in the NHS. One of the priority programmes pertained to the international recruitment of nurses and other healthcare personnel. As of the end of 2001, Work Permits (UK) issued around 20,000 work permits to Filipino nationals, most of whom are nurses. It is estimated that more than 80% of these nurses are employed by the NHS, while the balance are working in the independent healthcare sector, mostly private nursing homes. Filipino nurses now constitute the largest group of overseas employees in the NHS.

The NHS issued on October 2001 a "Code of Practice for NHS Employers" involved in the international recruitment of healthcare professionals in an effort to promote high standards in the hiring and employment of foreign staff. Many NHS organizations welcome the contributions made by these professionals who qualified abroad and have plans to continue international recruitment over the next few years.

The Philippines and the UK governments also signed on 8 January 2002 a pioneering agreement to recruit, on a pilot basis, 50 Filipino nurses on a cost-effective government-to-government arrangement. The London Regional Office of NHS and the Philippine Overseas Employment Authority (POEA) are coordinating the project. The success of this pilot project would hopefully lead to a full-blown memorandum of agreement between the two governments on the further recruitment of hundreds more nurses for NHS in London. There are about 130 such employers in the Greater London area.