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By Robina Asido

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will invite Japanese Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako to visit the Philippines as he left for his four days state visit in the Land of the Rising Sun this week.

Marcos made the announcement as he delivered his departure speech before he left Manila to Japan on Wednesday afternoon.

Flight PR 001 carrying the President and the Philippine delegation, touched down at the Haneda International Airport at 5:35 p.m. (Japan time), the Presidential News Desk said.

"The First Lady and I will have the honor of having an imperial audience with their majesties, the Emperor and Empress of Japan. I will also invite them to visit the Philippines to be welcome by the warm hospitality of Filipinos who have endeared Japan and Japanese culture in their hearts," he said.

Marcos will also meet Japanese Prime Minister Kishida where they will also witness the signing of several agreements between Japan and Philippines.

"During my visit I will also be meeting with Prime Minister Kishida Fumio to take stock of our bilateral relations and regional cooperation in a broad range of engagement for our security and economic relations of our two countries and our continued commitment to mutual peace and prosperity," he said.

"The prime minister and I expect to witness the signing and exchange of key agreements in the areas of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, infrastructure agriculture and digital operation and many of these MOUs and MOAs and other documents that we will be witnessing are impact the product of our meetings in new york and also in APEC," he added.

Marcos and his delegations will also "hold meetings with Japan's business leaders to promote trade and investment opportunities in the Philippines."

"In these meetings I shall be joined by my economic team and key private sector representatives who have been and will be continuously our partners in growing our economy," he said.

" I look forward to bringing home more of these agreements that will benefit to the transformation of our economy and to be able to mitigate some of the challenges that we are facing in the new global economy," he added.

The chief executive also vows to actively collaborate in priority areas that includes "agriculture, renewable energy, digital transformation, infrastructure, defense and security and other areas where future synergies and complementary interests converge with those of Japan."

Marcos said he also looks forward to meeting the large Filipino diaspora in Japan "who have been contributing through their hard work and positive disposition in building a better Philippines."

The president stressed that his visit in Japan is "essential" as "it is part of the larger foreign policy agenda to forge closer political ties, stronger defense and security cooperation as well as lasting economic partnerships with major countries in the region amid a challenging global environment."

"This visit also we will seek to further strengthen the bonds of friendship with the close neighbor like minded and future oriented like us in many ways and the most reliable partner in times of both crisis and of prosperity," he said.

"During my trip I hope to harness the positive trajectory of our relationship with Japan in all of our enriching engagements. This administration is keen on working closely with Japan in forging stability and dynamism into our bilateral relations and bringing our strategic partnership to greater heights," he added.

It is Marcos' first visit in Japan as the President of the Republic of the Philippines. This is the second state visit of Marcos this year following his trip to Beijing last month. DMS