Palace: PH, Japan partnership on ‘stronger footing’ after Duterte visit
Credit to Author: Tempo Desk| Date: Sat, 01 Jun 2019 09:20:48 +0000
PRESIDENT Duterte and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe shake hands before their summit meeting at the prime minister’s office in Tokyo, Japan. (Presidential photo)
The strategic partnership between the Philippines and Japan has moved to “an even stronger footing” following President Duterte’s “successful” four-day visit to Tokyo last week, Malacañang said yesterday.
The President returned to the country yesterday morning from his Japan trip where he sought to enhance the country’s relations with “a friend closer than a brother.”
Duterte brought home business deals from Japan amounting to $5.5 billion or P288.8 billion that are expected to generate more than 82,000 jobs to Filipinos. The business agreements and pledges will mostly be in infrastructure, manufacturing, electronics, transport, and power.
A 25-billion yen commitment from Japan has also been secured for the development of Mindanao, particularly in the region’s road network, vocational training facilities, equipment, and other projects.
“President Rodrigo Duterte capped his working visit to Japan on a high note, putting the Philippines’ strategic partnership with Japan on an even stronger footing,” a Malacanang statement said.
Before flying back to Manila, the President met Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and agreed to continue to strengthen the two nation’s strategic partnership. They agreed to enhance cooperation on infrastructure development, trade and investments, defense, agriculture, and maritime security, among others.
“The President conveyed appreciation for Japan’s renewed support for the government’s ‘Build, Build, Build’ program, citing Japanese development assistance as the gold standard for the country’s development cooperation with other partner countries,” Malacanang said.
The two leaders also tackled “the modalities for greater cooperation in upgrading the Philippines’ defense capabilities, including in maritime security and maritime domain awareness,” according to Malacanang.
“They explored opportunities to tap the demographic complementarity between the two countries to drive economic growth, including the possibility of Japan opening its door to skilled foreign labor,” it said.
While visiting Tokyo, Duterte delivered an address before the Nikkei’s 25th International Conference on the Future of Asia, and held separate meetings with Japanese businessmen and the Filipino community. He also went shopping in Tokyo with his partner Honeylet Avanceña and daughter Kitty.
In the banquet hosted by Abe Friday, Duterte said the Philippines and Japan share a “special bond,” citing the relations are marked by “deep understanding, respect for sovereignty, and mutually beneficial cooperation.”
“As I have said before, we are friends closer than brothers. That conviction remains unshaken,” he said. “We are committed to make our strategic partnership even stronger as we work towards greater peace, progress and prosperity for our nations and region,” he added. (Genalyn Kabiling)