The Department of Finance (DOF) is confident that Japan’s commitment to help the Philippines’ infrastructure development and other initiatives will stay beyond President Duterte’s term.
Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III expressed his confidence following the Philippines and Japan 12th meeting of the High-Level Joint Committee on Infrastructure Development and Economic Cooperation on Wednesday, Feb. 16.
“Moving forward, we are confident that the Japanese government will continue to be a valuable partner in support of the Philippine government’s development objectives,” Dominguez said.
Dominguez posted on witter that Mori Masafumi, the Special Advisor to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has conveyed “Japan’s strong commitment to continuing its support to the Philippines' infrastructure development, COVID-19 response, and other development initiatives.
“Between our 1st meeting in 2017 and today, much has been started, achieved, and will be further continued,” Dominguez said. “I am confident that the commitment of Japan to partner with the Philippines in developing our economy is for the long term, as it has been in the past.”
Dominguez added that Japan is “a valuable partner” in the country's growth and development as well as economic recovery.
President Duterte will step down from office on June 30, 2022.
Japan is one of the largest investors of the country, accounting for about 12.7 percent of last year’s total approved investment pledges, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed.
Dominguez said the past six years of development cooperation between the Philippines and Japan “have been fruitful despite the challenges and inevitable delays brought by the pandemic and unforeseen natural disasters.”
Mori, for his part, reiterated their commitment on continuing “support to the Philippine's infrastructure development including railways, response to COVID-19, and capability enhancement for maritime law enforcement,” among other development initiatives.
Since January 2017, Japan's public and private financial contribution to the Philippines’ nation-building reached 1.38 trillion yen, well over the 1 trillion yen mark set forth.
“I'd like to emphasize that the government of Japan's commitment to the bilateral cooperation project remains unchanged under the Kishida Cabinet,” Mr. Mori said, referring to Japan Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.