Japan assures Philippines of continued support

MANILA, Philippines - The Aquino administration need not worry about getting the support of the Japanese government for more investments in the Philippines as Japan still considers the country a very important partner, a Japanese diplomat said.

Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines Makoto Katsura said the strategic partnership between the two nations goes beyond trade and investment to include every field including cultural and human exchanges.

“As far as Japan and Philippines relations are concerned, we have been very, very friendly to each other. (The Philippines is a) very important partner, not only in a particular field but in all fields,” Katsura said in a pre-Asia Pacific Economic Conference (APEC) briefing held at his residence in Makati City yesterday.

Katsura noted that the Philippines and Japan share the same fundamental values on democracy, freedom and human rights as well as a common security alliance with the United States.

The two countries are also linked geographically, which paved the way for intensive human exchanges.

There is also the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement or JPEPA, which went into force last year, paving the way for improved trade between the two countries.

Matsura noted that Philippine export to Japan represented 16.2 percent of the total pie in 2009, up from 15.7 percent in 2008.

Japan was only next to the United States as recipients of exports from the Philippines.

He said that the volume of most products exported by the Philippines to Japan has increased from 2008 to 2009, mostly due to the JPEPA, which brought down the tariff rates of the products.

Japan is also second only to the US in terms of sources of imports to the Philippines at 11.9 percent of the total import pie.

From 2005 to 2009, Japan was the biggest source of foreign direct investments (FDI) in the Philippines with an accumulated P173 billion.

This was on top of the FDIs to the economic zones, which was recorded at P150.75 billion over the same period.

Matsura noted that the Philippine ecozones were very attractive to Japanese enterprises and that most of these were engaged in a lot of re-exporting to other countries.

In terms of official development assistance, Japan was also the biggest source for the Philippines with a total of $302.54 million in 2008.

Japan was also the biggest source of loans to the Philippines at 36 percent in 2009.