House Speaker Martin Romualdez described as “warm” the reception that President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. received from his five-day official visit to Japan from February 8-12.
Just how warm are the over-all bilateral relations between our two countries at present?
Red-hot, it would appear, as Japan has pledged 600 billion yen (about P250 billion) in official development assistance (ODA) and private sector investments in the course of the visit.
That amount would no doubt help in no small measure in attaining our goal of attaining upper middle-income status within the next few years.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida made the announcement on February 9 in a joint press conference with President Marcos.
The two leaders reaffirmed their continued commitment to the steady implementation of ongoing and future economic cooperation projects through the High-Level Joint Committee on Infrastructure Development and Economic Cooperation.
After his meeting with Kishida, President Marcos said the Strategic Partnership between the Philippines and Japan has become “stronger than ever” and “full of promise” as the two sides “continue to deepen and expand our engagements across a wide range of mutually beneficial cooperation.”
Earlier in the day, Marcos managed to secure billions of pesos worth of investment pledges from leading Japanese semiconductor and electronics companies.
The investment pledges, the president’s economic team said, would translate to more than 10,000 jobs for Filipinos.
That’s not all.
Tokyo has also vowed to contribute to the development of quality transport infrastructure in the Philippines, including railway systems in the main island of Luzon, and to help spur equitable regional development especially in Mindanao.
The Japanese premier likewise expressed support for Philippine efforts to maintain the competitiveness of agriculture and to achieve food security through increased farm productivity, efficiency, and farmers’ income.
Other agreements signed with Tokyo involve cooperation in humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, and information and communications technology.
Before he left for Japan on February 8, the President said his visit is an “essential part” of the country’s “larger foreign policy agenda to forge closer political ties, stronger defense and security cooperation, as well as lasting economic partnerships with major countries in the region amid a challenging global environment.”
As the results of the Japan visit indicate, our strategic partnership is proceeding at a brisk pace, with even greater potential to flourish in the years ahead.