President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s official working visit to Japan in February 2023 yielded leads with the potential to generate $620.7 million in trade deals and $22.67 million in investments, the Department of Trade and Industry said.
Some 118 Philippine companies and 597 Japanese companies attended the series of meetings organized by the DTI meant to strengthen economic relations between the two countries and promote collaboration between government and the private sector.
“The business matching event is the largest in the history of presidential trips overseas, and it is evident that there is growing momentum in the Philippines and Japan trade and investment relations,” said PTIC-Tokyo commercial counsellor Dita Angara-Mathay.
“Both government and the private sector acknowledge that there are rising opportunities for economic engagement in areas that are critical to national priorities. In order to pursue our strategy of investment-led export growth, we need to actively seek out platforms that promote exchange between our expanding networks,” she said.
The business matching event was anchored on the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2023-2028, which aims to promote trade and investments by restoring, sustaining, and strengthening the Philippine export sector’s global position, as well as enhancing trade, upgrading skills, and addressing sustainability by increasing investments.
The Japan state visit included a trip to the facility of the manufacturer of the world’s smallest compact satellite in orbit.
According to DTI, business agreements for projects worth $13 billion were signed during the trip.
Japan is currently the Philippines’ biggest source of overseas development assistance, and trade between the two countries amounted to $23.48 billion in 2022.
