President Rodrigo Roa Duterte greets an official from one of the companies during the business forum at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, Japan on May 29, 2019. KARL NORMAN ALONZO/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO
TOKYO, Japan — President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday assured Japanese investors of a competitive and corruption-free business environment, and promised to “kill” any problem they might encounter while doing business in the Philippines.
Speaking at an economic forum in Tokyo, the President promised to be always available to listen to any complaints from Japanese investors.
“May I assure you that during my time I said there will be no corruption. And every Japanese investor in my country, however small, however big, I can assure you that if there’s any complaint regarding hindrances, obstruction or outright corruption, let me know,” he said.
Audience in 24 hours
He promised that their requests for meetings with him would be granted within 24 hours.
“I will talk to you and just let me know what your problem is and we will kill that problem,” he said, jesting about his reputation as a leader with an unorthodox approach to solving problems.
The President is in Japan on a four-day visit that includes attending the 25th International Conference on the Future of Asia on the invitation of Nikkei Inc.
He will deliver the keynote speech to the gathering on Friday.
The President will also meet with Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo on Friday.
Japan is gradually reverting to the old tradition of putting surnames first, like the Chinese and the Koreans.
US President Donald Trump was the first world leader to refer to the Japanese premier as Abe Shinzo in a tweet earlier this week.
Highest credit rating
The President’s meeting with businessmen on Wednesday was the culmination of the economic aspect of his visit to Japan, his seventh since coming to office in 2016.
In his speech to Japanese investors, the President noted that the Philippines’ Standard & Poor’s credit rating has been upgraded to BBB+, the highest the country has achieved, just a notch below A.
“Given all these, your investments are assured of protection and gains, I guarantee that,” the President said.
The President thanked Japanese investors for their trust in the Philippine economy, after they signed 26 agreements with Filipino businessmen as he began his visit.
The President hailed the fresh investment as a “vote of confidence” on the economic prospects of the Philippines, noting that Japan has been a major source of foreign direct investment and the second-largest trading partner of the country.
$5.5B fresh investment
Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said the 26 agreements would generate $5.5 billion (P289 billion) in fresh investment from Japan, mostly by Japanese businesses expanding their Philippine operations.
Briefing Filipino reporters after President Duterte’s meeting with Japanese investors, Lopez said the expansions would create more than 82,000 jobs for Filipinos.
Most of the jobs will be in manufacturing and other industries, he said.
“Seven of these are business agreements or joint venture, expansion. Then 19 are letters of intent to expand or new ones,” Lopez said.
“But most of these are expansion deals because they are already in the Philippines. Marubeni, Mitsubishi, Toyota, Sojits. Their confidence in the Duterte administration is consistent,” he said.
The secretary said the expansions were expected to begin this year and continue through 2020.
Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said the agreements “emphasize the confidence the Japanese business leaders have [in] the Philippines as an investor haven” under President Duterte’s leadership.
These covered several industries, including manufacturing, power and natural gas distribution, software, automotive, amusement, food and credit.
In his speech at the economic forum, the President said Japan and the Philippines were reviewing their 2006 economic partnership agreement to raise it to “a higher level of preferential arrangement that is mutually beneficial to our countries.”
Farm produce
He said he hoped to achieve access to the Japanese market for Philippine agricultural products, such as banana, mango and pineapple, as well as service suppliers in construction.
The President said his administration was also working with the Japanese government to improve working conditions for Filipino nurses and health care workers in Japan.
He invited Japanese investors to go beyond expansion and invest in his infrastructure program.
He reiterated his promise of protection from corruption for foreign investment.
“I place my honor in what we promised to our partners, especially the Japanese and the Japanese people,” Mr. Duterte said, adding: “[W]hat I guarantee here must be followed.”