President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. secured stronger commitments for deeper Philippine-Japan economic integration during a high-level roundtable meeting with leading Japanese business executives on Wednesday at the Imperial Hotel, reinforcing the growing strategic and economic partnership between the two nations.
The roundtable formed a key component of the President’s four-day State Visit to Japan, aimed at strengthening bilateral cooperation in defense, trade, investment, tourism, and people-to-people exchanges. The engagement underscored the Philippines’ push to build a resilient and future-ready economic alliance with Japan amid evolving global economic conditions.
Addressing executives from Japan’s top conglomerates and financial institutions, President Marcos emphasized the importance of establishing a more integrated Philippine-Japan economic corridor, particularly as both countries confront global challenges such as energy volatility and supply chain disruptions arising from geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.
“As we mark 70 years of the normalization of our diplomatic relations, we are no longer simply commemorating history,” President Marcos said. “We are entering a new chapter — a chapter defined not only by friendship, but by deeper integration, shared growth, and a common belief in the future.”
The President highlighted the Philippine government’s unified economic strategy, led jointly by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Department of Tourism (DOT), aimed at synchronizing infrastructure, industry, finance, human capital, and connectivity into a cohesive system for sustainable growth.
“The Philippines is pursuing a clear national direction: building an economy where infrastructure, industry, finance, human capital, and connectivity move together as one system of growth,” the President stated. “And increasingly, we recognize that trade and tourism will be among the most important engines of that growth.”
President Marcos underscored the growing role of trade and tourism as core drivers of long-term economic expansion, emphasizing their strategic value in generating investment, enhancing infrastructure, and expanding commercial opportunities.
“In this sense, trade and tourism are not supporting sectors. They are core drivers of economic expansion in the Philippines moving forward. This is a philosophy our two countries understand deeply,” he added.
During the meeting, the President recognized the longstanding contributions of major Japanese companies operating in the Philippines, including All Nippon Airways, Toyota, Mitsubishi Corporation, Marubeni, Panasonic, and Fast Retailing. He thanked the firms for their continued confidence in the Philippine economy and their role in creating high-quality jobs and industrial opportunities for Filipinos.
“You are no longer just investors in our economy. You are builders of it,” President Marcos told the business leaders.
The roundtable concluded with participating Japanese corporations expressing a strong vote of confidence in the Philippines through an aggregate investment commitment of approximately US$3.4 billion (around PhP210 billion).
These investments are expected to expand domestic industrial capacity, strengthen local supply chains, accelerate technology transfer, improve tourism infrastructure, and generate thousands of specialized, high-quality jobs for Filipino workers.
Trade and Industry Secretary Maria Cristina Roque reaffirmed the country’s readiness to host high-tech manufacturing and green investments that support regional supply chain resilience.
“Our message is clear: the Philippines is open, ready, and highly capable of supporting the rapid expansion and resilience of Japanese global value chains,” Roque said. “We are aggressively positioning the Philippines as your strategic hub in ASEAN for smart manufacturing, green metals, and renewable energy.”
Tourism Secretary Dita Angara-Mathay likewise highlighted the Philippines’ rapidly expanding tourism and hospitality sectors as key areas for long-term commercial investment.
“Tourism is a massive engine for infrastructure and commercial investment,” Angara-Mathay said. “By synergizing with our trade initiatives, we are opening up high-value opportunities in hospitality facilities, eco-tourism development, and aviation connectivity, ensuring that investments in Philippine tourism yield robust, long-term returns.”
President Marcos also assured Japanese stakeholders of the administration’s continued efforts to improve institutional efficiency and create a stable, investment-friendly environment.
“We are modernizing institutions and positioning the Philippines so that trade and tourism can more strongly drive long-term economic growth and job creation,” the President said.
Closing his remarks, President Marcos emphasized the strength and adaptability of the Filipino workforce and the country’s growing integration into global economic networks.
“To all our Japanese partners, you know the Philippines not from reports, but from experience,” he said. “You know our workforce: skilled, adaptable, and globally competitive — resilient in adversity, ambitious in opportunity, and increasingly connected to global trade and tourism flows. And you know something even more fundamental: that the Philippines is defined not by one strength, but by many working together.”
President Marcos is currently in Japan for a State Visit focused on strengthening political ties, defense cooperation, economic partnerships, and people-to-people exchanges between Manila and Tokyo.
