Japan-Philippines Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (Overview)

On Thursday, November 10, Minister for Foreign Affairs Koichiro Gemba, who is visiting Honolulu for the APEC Ministerial Meeting, held a meeting with Albert Del Rosario, Secretary of Foreign Affairs for the Philippines, from 3:20 p.m. local time (10:20 a.m. on November 11, Japan time) for around 30 minutes. The overview of the meeting is as follows.

1. General Overview of Bilateral Relations
Both ministers welcomed their first foreign ministers’ meeting, and reaffirmed the importance of following-up on the Joint Statement issued by the leaders of both countries during the visit to Japan by Mr. Benigno S. Aquino III, President of the Philippines, at the end of September. The Joint Statement identified the relations between the two countries as a “Strategic Partnership”. From this perspective, both ministers confirmed the need to strengthen policy dialogues, including the Vice-Ministerial Strategic Dialogue.

2. Economic Cooperation for the Philippines and Improvement of the Investment Environment
Minister Gemba announced that Japan will support the improvement of the investment environment and the enhancement of infrastructure in the Philippines through the active utilization of Official Development Assistance (ODA), and contribute to the economic development of the country. In response, Foreign Secretary Del Rosario welcomed the strengthening of trade and investment relations between the two countries, and expressed expectations for the deepening of public-private partnership for infrastructure development. In addition, Minister Gemba requested the further efforts of the Government of the Philippines for the proper implementation of programs and contracts concerning Japanese companies.

3. Peace in Mindanao
Foreign Secretary Del Rosario expressed his gratitude for Japan’s contribution to the Mindanao peace process thus far. In response, Minister Gemba expressed his concern about the worsening security situation in Mindanao, and sought an assurance of the safety of Japanese nationals related to attacks on nickel mines. Foreign Secretary Del Rosario responded that the Philippines would implement all possible security measures.

4. Regional/international issues
The ministers had a wide exchange of opinions on regional and international situations related to the series of ASEAN summit meetings to be held next week.