LIVE updates: Visit of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe

MANILA, Philippines – Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is set to conduct a two-day state visit to the Philippines starting Thursday.

This will be Abe’s third official visit to the country. He first visited in 2013 and attended the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in in 2015.

Abe’s visit is the first reciprocal one following President Rodrigo Duterte’s visit to Tokyo in October last year. The two countries are known to have one of the closest partnerships in the region, with Japan recently donating patrol ships to the Philippine Coast Guard.

The prime minister is scheduled to meet Duterte and is also set to meet business groups in Manila and Davao City