Press Releases
7th Meeting of the Japan-Philippines Joint Committee on Infrastructure Development and Economic Cooperation
1. The seventh meeting of the Japan-Philippines Joint Committee on Infrastructure Development and Economic Cooperation was held on February 21, in Osaka. The meeting was attended on the Japanese side by Dr. Hiroto Izumi, Special Advisor to the Prime Minister, and others; and on the Philippine side by Mr. Carlos G. Dominguez, Secretary of Finance, Mr. Ernesto M. Pernia, Secretary of National Economic and Development Authority, and others.
2. At this meeting, the participants followed up the “Joint Statement on Bilateral Cooperation for the Next Five Years (PDF)
” which was issued during the visit of His Excellency President Rodrigo R. Duterte to Japan in October 2017. They discussed approaches to cooperating in order to resolve the major challenges the Government of the Philippines is addressing, including the Metro Manila Subway Project, the North-South Commuter Railway extension project and other infrastructure development projects as well as assistance to development in Mindanao considering the peace process entered into a new stage after the plebiscite.
3. The two sides shared the view that they will strive to communicate closely through this committee, and will aim to steadily implement specific projects.
4. After the meeting, the two sides signed and exchanged notes for the Grant Programme for the Urgent Improvement of Socioeconomic Infrastructures in Bangsamoro Region, the Grant for the Economic and Social Development Programme (Well-Drilling and Underground Water Detecting Machines) and the Grant for the Economic and Social Development Programme (Train Simulator). Exchange of the Memorandum of Cooperation in the fields of healthcare was also conducted.
(Reference) Japan-Philippines Joint Committee on Infrastructure Development and Economic Cooperation
On his visit to the Philippines in January 2017, Mr. Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan, announced that Japan would provide one trillion yen in assistance over the next five years, including ODA and private-sector investment, establish a Joint Committee on Infrastructure Development and Economic Cooperation to coordinate this assistance, and steadily implement cooperation that engages the public and private sectors for state building. The first meeting of the joint committee was held in Tokyo on March 27, 2017, the second meeting in Manila on July 7, the third meeting in Tokyo on September 25, the fourth meeting in Cebu on February 12, the fifth meeting in Tokyo on June 20 and the sixth meeting in Manila on November 21, 2018.