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TOKYO, Japan – Toyota Motors Corporation (TMC), Japan’s biggest automobile company, has donated $3 million to the Philippine government for the reforestation of some 3,500 hectares of denuded areas in Cagayan Valley.

Akira Okabe, TMC senior managing director, handed the donation to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo during a courtesy call on the Philippine leader Thursday afternoon at the Imperial Hotel here in Tokyo.

He told the President the donation was TMC’s contribution to the Philippine government’s reforestation program and a token of his company’s appreciation for the good working conditions obtaining in the country.

He pointed out that the favorable business climate in the Philippines has contributed greatly to the success of TMC’s operations in the country.

In return, the President reiterated her thanks to Okabe for Toyota's continued trust and confidence in her administration as shown by TMC’s decision to expand its R-type transmission plant in Sta. Rosa City, Laguna.

Okabe told the President that Toyota’s prospects in the Philippines remain bright as the demand for Toyota automobiles continue to soar in both local and foreign markets.

The President, on March 15, 2007, led the groundbreaking rites for Toyota Autoparts Philippines (TAP) R-type transmission plant funded under the company’s P5.6 billion expansion program.

TAP, the company’s global production and supply hub of manual transmissions will build a new facility within the Toyota Special Economic Zone’s 82-hectare manufacturing plant in Barangay Pulong Sta. Cruz, in Sta. Rosa City.

After Okabe’s call, the President also received Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) Governor Kyosuke Shinozawa who assured her that JBIC would continue to support development projects in priority sectors in the Philippines.

JBIC is supporting Marubeni power projects in various parts of the Philippines and the Sumitomo Metal Mining Corporation.