Tokyo—President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Friday urged top Japanese business leaders to invest more in the Philippines with the promise of a strong macro-economy, liberal business policy, and massive infrastructure development agenda.
Earlier in the day, Mr. Marcos witnessed the signing of 35 letters of intent (LOI) on investments and agreements between the Philippines and leading Japanese firms.
On top of the list was a memorandum of cooperation between the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), signed by Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual and Nobuhiko Sasaki, chairman and CEO of JETRO.
During his speech at the Philippine Business Opportunities Forum, the President said the country has been “remarkable” in its recovery from the economic slump brought by the global pandemic, citing its gross domestic product growth from 5.7 percent in 2021 to 7.6 percent last year.
“This growth—which exceeded expectations and our targets—was broad-based, reflecting high government spending and robust domestic demand driven by household consumption and private investments.” Mr. Marcos said.
The President also noted that inflation in the country has remained “manageable,” citing the December 15 forecast of the central bank that the 4.5 percent inflation rate this year will go down further to 2.8 percent next year.
“Aided by industrialization and job-creation strategy, we expect the Philippine economy to graduate from lower-middle-income to upper-middle-income status by 2024, if not sooner. This will keep us on track in achieving high-income status by 2040,” he said.
“Against this backdrop, we envision poverty incidence in the Philippines to be slashed by half or from 18.1 percent in 2021 to 9 percent by 2028,” Mr. Marcos added.
Meanwhile, Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista on Friday said the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) are in planning to put up three to four more underground railway systems in Metro Manila, which would extend all the way to Cavite province.
“As early as now, we are already planning for more subways in Metro Manila because this will ease the traffic,” Bautista said during the same Philippine Business Opportunities Forum.
The Transportation chief said the discussions for more subways are in the planning stage, which may be connected to the Metro Manila Subway Project starting in Makati City, which is now under construction.
In his earlier speech, the President thanked Japanese firms and partners for considering the Philippines as a place to grow their business.
The government has been working to deepen investor confidence in the Philippines by advancing “vital and game-changing” reforms, he said.
“And it is our hope that companies such as yours will not only find the Philippines to be an attractive investment destination, we are designing our efforts to encourage you to stay and find our country to be a place where your businesses will thrive,” the President said.
The letters of intent are between the Philippines and Japan as well as different companies from both nations, covering a wide range of partnerships.
These include manufacturing, infrastructure development, energy, transportation, health care, and renewable energy.
The signing follows a day after the first meeting between President Marcos and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo.
The business agreements signed include a wiring harness manufacturing expansion project with Asti Corp.; a printer manufacturing expansion project with Brother Industries, Ltd.; a hotel construction project with DoubleDragon Corp. and IwataChizaki Inc.; and a factory expansion project with Japan Tobacco Inc.
Also included in the list are a new factory for auto parts with Kurabe Industrial Co, Ltd.; energy, transportation, health care, and afforestation projects with Marubeni Corp.; an automobile manufacturing expansion project and a commitment renewal to meet production targets with Mitsubishi Motors Corp.
Among the Philippine officials present were former President now Pampanga 2nd District Rep. Gloria Macapagal- Arroyo, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, Special Assistant to the President Secretary Antonio Lagdameo, Trade Secretary Pascual, and Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno.
The President said on Friday he had high hope after the business matching event arranged by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) for 85 Philippine companies yielded more than 255 meetings with their Japanese counterparts.
“In the afternoon, our delegates visited a facility in Odaiba that was built by a company that began as a startup and today builds ultra-compact spacecraft for comet exploration,” the President said. (See full story online at manilastandard.net)
On top of forging new connections in business, Filipino delegates are on a mission to listen, to observe, to learn, and then act on opportunities and new knowledge, Mr. Marcos said.
At the same time, he expressed optimism that beyond profit and commerce, these partnerships will extend to lifelong friendships,
which will promote and encourage the deepening and strengthening of the ties between Japan and the Philippines
Accompanying him on his Japan trip, President Marcos said, is a diverse group of 114 businessmen whose activities span the whole gamut of Japan-centric business opportunities—manufacturing, construction, real estate, retail, food service, trading, telecommunications, aviation, recruitment, mining, and agribusiness.
Marcos said he was delighted to be among industry captains and top-ranking executives representing big businesses as well as associations whose members include small and medium enterprises, management, and importers.
Japan’s unique business landscape is admirable, President Marcos said, as networks of independent manufacturers, supply chain partners, distributors, and financiers work efficiently and harmoniously.
He also pointed out that last month, he signed the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2023-2028, the country’s medium-term development plan.
The PDP is founded on his administration’s 8-point socioeconomic agenda: investment promotion; infrastructure development; energy efficiency; increased employability of workforce; expansion of digital infrastructure; innovation, research, and development; pursuit of a green and blue economy; and establishment of livable and sustainable communities.
“Our demographic advantage—particularly our young, educated, hardworking, English-speaking workforce [that] is among the best in the world— puts us in a strong position on the global stage,” Mr. Marcos said.
“This complements Japan’s development strategy, given its older demographic, of tapping human resources from outside its borders to meet the labor requirements of its enterprises,” the President added.
On narrowing the budget deficit, Mr. Marcos cited it is now down to 6.5 percent in the first 11 months of the year from the pandemic-induced 8.6 percent in 2021.
“Under our medium-term fiscal program, we target to reduce the budget deficit to 3 percent by the end of my term in 2028,” the President said.
Prudent debt management will be critical to achieving this goal, he added.
“We will reduce government debt as a percent of GDP from 60.9 percent as of end-2022 to 51.2 percent by 2028,” the President said.
The Chief Executive also said the Philippines has “a lot more to offer to Japanese investors” in terms of ease of doing business in the country.
The Philippine government has removed major barriers to foreign investments via landmark legislations, the President said, noting the amendments in the Foreign Investments Act and Public Service Act.
Mr. Marcos also noted that the Philippines has been undertaking massive infrastructure development initiatives, taking off from the efforts of the previous administration.
The administration is making it easier for private investors to engage in infrastructure initiatives, the chief executive added, noting that the government has revised the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) law to improve the financial viability of PPP projects.
In other developments:• The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) on Friday expressed its full support to help the Philippines address its wide-ranging development needs after Marcos met with JICA President Akihiko Tanaka, who reaffirmed the significance of his organization’s cooperation with the Philippines. JICA hailed the signing of loan agreements with the Philippines to provide Japan’s official development assistance loans for the North-South Commuter Railway Project (Malolos—Tutuban) II and the North-South Commuter Railway Extension Project II.
• The President received strong support from several premier Japanese business organizations that expressed readiness to help his administration’s development agenda. Among those who expressed support for the Philippine government’s development priorities were representatives from the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI), Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd., Sompo Holdings, Inc., and Marubeni Corp.
