Philippines, Japan agree to boost economic, security cooperation

Tokyo – President of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida agreed to strengthen economic and security cooperation between the two countries.

Marcos is on a five-day official visit to Japan.

At their talks in Tokyo on February 9, Kishida pledged to provide a support package worth 600 billion JPY (4.6 billion USD) for the Philippines in 2023 and from Japan's public and private sectors.

According to the Japanese Foreign Ministry, Japan will offer around 377 billion JPY in official development assistance (ODA) for commuter railway projects that connect Manila with its neighbouring cities of the Philippines, Japan's Foreign Ministry said.

Other economic cooperation programmes range from agriculture and telecommunications to energy security, the ministry added.

Kishida and Marcos also welcomed their agreement on guidelines to smooth humanitarian support and disaster relief operations by Japan's Self-Defence Forces in the Southeast Asian nation.

The Philippines has released its offshore wind power roadmap, in which two scenarios are outlined for the development of the country’s wind power industry.

An agreement to export cement and clinker to the Philippines is a bright spot for the Vietnamese cement industry's demand-supply mismatch.

The Consulate General of Japan in Danang and IOM have handed over hygiene supplies and equipment to Quang Tri frontline workers working at points of entry (POE) to ensure safe international travel for Vietnam.

At the meeting with the Ministry of Planning and Investment and Nakajima Takeo, chief representative of the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), said that Japanese enterprises could not ignore Vietnam when looking around Asia for a destination to invest.