Gov’t mulls development of Tokyo property

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine government is considering to develop its 2,500-square meter Nampeidai property in Tokyo, Japan to generate new income and reduce settlement costs, the Department of Finance (DOF) said.

In an interview, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said he has discussed with Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano and Philippine Ambassador to Japan Jose Laurel V the possibility of developing the government’s asset in Nampeidai and utilizing it for the use of the Philippine embassy.

“We were discussing the possibility of developing the property in Nampeidai and building three structures there,” Dominguez told reporters on the sidelines of the Fourth Philippines-Japan Joint Committee on Infrastructure Development and Economic Cooperation.

Dominguez said the three structure include a building for the Philippine embassy and chancery, an apartment building for the embassy staff, and a meeting hall for Filipinos based in Japan.

Dominguez said developing these establishments in the area would allow the government to save on rental costs.

According to Dominguez, he has asked the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to come up with a development plan for the property. Afterwards, he said the DOF can finance the project through the issuance of yen-denominated bonds.

“I said, you (DFA) come up with the plan on the development, including the underground parking and please give it to us because we can finance it through an issuance of bonds,” Dominguez said.

“We don’t have to partner up with the private sector to do that. We can fund it, the interest rates in Japan are very low and since we will be spending (Japanese) yen, we can borrow yen. That makes sense so there’s really no foreign exchange risk,” he said.

In the meantime, Dominguez said the government can vacate its current chancery in Nampeidai and rent out the rooms in the building once they have moved to the new chancery.

“They can rent out the current chancery, so that will go to pay for the loan,” he said.

Nampeidai, which is located in the district of Shibuya in Tokyo, is one of the four properties that the Philippines acquired from Japan under the May 9, 1956 War Reparations Agreement. It was part of the $550-million war reparation from Japan after World War II.

According to Dominguez, it should be the government’s policy to develop properties in other countries if they have the potential to generate income and reduce costs for the government.

“I think, if we have a property in other countries and they are suitable for embassies, we should develop it for our own use because we are going to be there anyway forever and we might as well own our building and save from rentals,” he said.

“Yes, (develop) rather than sell because we need it anyway. If it is suitable for development, income generation or cost reduction, we should keep it,” he said.