President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. arrived in Tokyo on Friday for the 50th Commemorative ASEAN-Japan Friendship and Cooperation Summit along with First Lady Louise Araneta-Marcos and other government officials.

The President and the First Lady landed at the Haneda International Airport at 7:13 pm (Japan time) were welcomed by Japanese officials.

Before leaving for Japan, Marcos said he is visiting Tokyo upon the invitation of Prime Minister Kishida Fumio as he emphasized that the last ASEAN-related Summit for 2023 is an opportunity for the Philippines to affirm its position on current international issues and advance the interest of the country.

Marcos added that it is also an opportunity to welcome the conferment of Comprehensive Partner Status to Japan.

Philippine-Japan relations was established on July 23, 1956. Japan is one of the country’s three strategic partners with 264 bilateral agreements, which include transfer of defense equipment and technology, infrastructure and Mindanao development, among others.

Japan was the Philippines’ second largest trading partner in 2022 after it recorded a total trade of $23.49 billion, which is up by 10.9 percent from the $21.83 billion recorded in 2021. In the same period, exports and imports were valued at $11.13 billion and 12.35 billion, respectively.

Manufacturing, IT-BPM, Electronic Design Services, PPP Projects, Agribusiness and Aquaculture, SME (cluster/supply chain building projects) are the priority sectors for investment promotion of the Philippines to Japan.

In terms of the Official Development Assistance (ODA), Japan is the largest source of ODA of the Philippines with a share of 40.49 percent or $12,923.99 million of the country’s total portfolio.

It is the second largest source of grant assistance accounting for 28.93 percent, or $577.72 million of the total grants’ portfolio.

Japan also served as home to 331,523 registered Filipinos. Presidential News Desk