TOKYO— Philippine Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III has met with Japan Minister for Foreign Affairs Yoshimasa Hayashi to discuss ways of expanding economic cooperation between the Philippines and Japan, in light of the recent enactment by the Philippine government of three economic liberalization laws that aim to further free the flow of foreign capital into our country.

They also briefly discussed the impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict on the global economy and how the two countries can work together to ease the long-term repercussions of this lingering crisis.

Dominguez, in particular, reiterated his proposal for the Philippines and Japan to enter into a demographic partnership that has now become even more feasible with the recent enactment of three Philippine laws that further liberalized the economy and opened wide the country to foreign investors.

These laws are the amendatory measures to the Public Service Act (PSA), Foreign Investments Act (FIA), and Retail Trade Liberalization Act (RTLA), all of which relaxed the restrictions on foreign ownership in certain Philippine businesses.

Under this demographic partnership, Dominguez said Japan will provide the research, technology, and resources, while the Philippines will do the marketing and manufacturing side by lending the skills of its young, talented workforce to this envisioned new era of economic cooperation between the two countries.

Dominguez also took the opportunity to thank the people and government of Japan for their support of President Duterte’s “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure modernization program and other development initiatives; their assistance to the Philippines’ pandemic response efforts, which include the donation of 3 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines; and their expertise and assistance in the formulation of the regional development masterplan for Subic Bay.

He also cited the successful Philippine bond issuances in the Samurai market that were oversubscribed even amid a volatile global market environment.

Hayashi, in turn, thanked Dominguez for his valuable contributions as the Philippines’ co-chairman of the Japan–Philippines High-Level Joint Committee on Infrastructure Development and Economic Cooperation.

He also expressed Japan’s intent to continue strengthening its cooperation with the Philippines, especially on infrastructure development.

Japan is the Philippines’ largest provider of Official Development Assistance (ODA), with loan and grant commitments amounting to around $10.449 billion, or 38.11 percent of the country’s total ODA portfolio as of June 2021. DOF