Marcos to bring home 35 investment pledges from first state visit to Japan

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines has clinched 35 investment pledges from Japanese companies looking to expand their business portfolio in the country.

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. on Friday witnessed the signing of 35 letters of intent between the governments of Philippines and Japan, as well as Japanese firms.

Letters of intent signify foreign companies’ interest in investing or expanding operations in the Philippines. They may or may not translate to actual foreign direct investments in the future.

The business pledges, which are projected to generate jobs for Filipinos should they materialize, came from Japanese companies in the industries of energy, transportation, healthcare, renewable energy and business expansion, among others.

“The government of the Philippines has been working to deepen the confidence in the Philippines of foreign investors and companies,” Marcos told Japanese businessmen who were present at the event. 

Latest central bank data showed Japan accounted for nearly 18% of FDIs in the Philippines in 2021. At the same time, the Philippines was the biggest recipient of Japanese official development assistance (ODA) in Southeast Asia from April 2021 to March 2022.

As in previous administrations, it is common for the president’s bilateral meetings with other countries’ state officials to lead to new business partnerships and investment deals from foreign companies. 

In his first State of the Nation Address in 2022, Marcos vowed to woo more foreign investors to set up shop here and make the country “an investment destination.”

'A place where your businesses will thrive'

During the event, Marcos said: “And it is our hope that companies such as yours will not only find the Philippines to be an attractive investment destination, we are designing our efforts to encourage you to stay and find our country to be a place where your businesses will thrive.”

The signing comes a day after the first bilateral meeting between Marcos and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

Specifically, the commitments include an automobile manufacturing expansion project and a commitment renewal to meet production targets with Mitsubishi Motors Corporation. There were also pledges for a factory expansion project with Japan Tobacco Inc. and a printer manufacturing expansion project with Brother Industries, Ltd.;

Other businesses that have pledged projects or agreed to partner with the Philippines are DoubleDragon Corporation/IwataChizaki Inc., which will involve a hotel construction project; Kurabe Industrial Co, Ltd. which will create a new autoparts factory; and Marubeni Corporation, which involve energy, transportation, healthcare and afforestation projects. — Cristina Chi