Japan’s Minister for Economic Affairs Yokota Naobumi witnessed the recent signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to boost communications infrastructure in the Philippines.
The MOU was signed by Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Secretary Henry Rhoel Aguda, IPS Inc. CEO Miyashita Koji, and InfiniVAN Inc. President Nakahara Shigeki, at the Peninsula Manila Hotel in Makati City.
The MOU is guided by the DICT’s vision of building a resilient and secure communications infrastructure. It also builds on InfiniVAN’s domestic and international network infrastructures that will serve as a backbone for internet connectivity for the unserved, underserved, and Geographically Isolated and Disadvantaged Areas (GIDAs) in the Philippines.
In his remarks, Minister Yokota described the MOU being in line with the concurrence between Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. at the Japan-Philippines Summit in April this year. The summit was aimed at strengthening public-private partnerships to increase the Philippine economy’s resilience in view of the significant role Japanese companies play in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) field in the Philippines.
Minister Yokota also noted the initiative is “not only as a provision of greater and more secure connection for the Government of the Philippines, but also as a testament to the deep trust and friendly relations between our two countries.”
