Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, one of the world’s largest private financial institutions, expressed its support for the Philippines’ infrastructure program.
MUFG officials made the commitment to “help further expand the development of the Philippines” during a recent meeting with Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III on the sidelines of the 50th Annual Meeting of the Asian Development Bank in Japan.
MUFG managing executive officer and chief executive for Asia and Oceania Takayoshi Futae said they “want to work together” with the Philippines as it embarks on its multi-trillion-peso infrastructure buildup.
Dominguez said he welcomed the assistance offered by MUFG officials and asked them to help in formulating “hedging” strategies for the Philippines to optimize investments and reduce risks in accelerated infra development plan.
“We also want to develop medium-sized companies by encouraging them to partner with equally sized Japanese companies for more inclusivity in our development strategy,” Dominguez told MUFG officials.
Futae said Japan-based MUFG was the world’s largest project finance bank with investments in large-scale infrastructure such as railroads and airports.
MUFG’s global network spans 50 countries across the globe. With $2.6 trillion in assets, S&P Global Intelligence listed it as the world’s fifth biggest bank in terms of assets.
Dominguez also informed MUFG of the Philippine government’s planned big-ticket infrastructure projects under its P8.4 trillion “Build, Build, Build” program, among them, the Clark-Manila railway, the Manila-Calamba commuter railway, and the Mega Manila Subway, which would be funded with possible development assistance from Japan. Julito G. Rada
Dominguez also updated MUFG officials of the other projects funded with Japanese assistance, among them, a 4.9-billion-yen five-year project that aimed to jumpstart agribusiness investments in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and other conflict-affected areas in the South.
The project, called the Harnessing Agribusiness Opportunities through Robust and Vibrant Entrepreneurship Supportive of Peaceful Transformation is designed to help create an enabling investment environment in the ARMM and other conflict areas in southern Philippines to help rev up the economy and raise incomes in these communities, Dominguez said.
The Land Bank of the Philippines and the government of Japan recently signed the loan agreement for the project.
