Coming from the heels of a highly successful official visit by Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to Japan last February, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) through its representative office in Western Japan—the Philippine Trade and Investment Center (PTIC) in Osaka, recently concluded a three-day business mission to the Philippines on March 15-17, 2023 for the Osaka-led Business Partner City (BPC) to explore vast potentials being offered by the Philippine market.
The Business Partner City aims to support globalization and revitalization of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Osaka, and to promote the mutual development of BPCs through economic exchanges.
The official delegation was composed of Osaka City Officials, BPC Council, and the business delegation consisting of top executives from 15 different Japanese companies from the manufacturing, medical equipment, food, agriculture, retail and pharmaceutical sectors.
In an investment briefing and forum, DTI Undersecretary and Philippine Board of Investments (BOI) Managing Head Ceferino R. Rodolfo highlighted the importance of strengthening trade and investment ties with Osaka-based businesses. He also cited Osaka’s important position as a second major business hub in Japan, following Tokyo.
“The renewed implementation of the Business Partner City (BPC) agreement has yielded large investment prospects from Osaka, a premier international port city whose gross regional product of USD362.5 billion and a population of 8.8 million are comparable with Singapore’s, currently the Philippines’ top source of foreign investments,” Presidential Special Envoy to Japan for Trade and Investment Promotion Dr. Reghis Romero II remarked.
Further, emphasizing the need to leverage the presence of the Japanese manufacturing conglomerates already operating in the country, PTIC Osaka Commercial Counselor and Director Michael Alfred V. Ignacio said, “As more and more Japanese SMEs firms decide to locate to the Philippines, this bid will help Japanese locators in lessening their reliance on importation for raw materials, manufacturing inputs and supplies, sustainably increasing the country’s supply chain capabilities.”
The delegation also joined different investment and networking meetings with Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) Philippines, Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the Philippines (JCCIPI), and officials of the Japan Desk at RCBC Bank.
Meanwhile, the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) officials led by Chairman Delfin Lorenzana and President Aileen Zosa presented to the business delegation BCDA’s developments such as Bonifacio Global City (BGC) in Taguig, Subic Bay, and Clark economic zones in Pampanga highlighting the investment opportunities in New Clark City.
Additionally, Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) OIC Director General Tereso O. Panga together with Deputy Director General and General Manager Aleem Guiapal welcomed the business delegation at the agency’s headquarters for a briefing.
On the final day of the mission, Special Envoy Romero and Manila City Councilor and International Relations Committee Chair Numero Lim led the wreath-laying ceremony at the Luneta Park, followed by the BPC conference officially opened by Manila Vice Mayor Yul Servo Nieto, and a courtesy call on Manila Mayor Honey Lacuna. The Cities of Manila and Osaka are charter signatories of the Business Partner Agreement signed in 1989.
