Press Releases
9th Meeting of the Japan-Philippines High Level Joint Committee
on Infrastructure Development and Economic Cooperation
1. The ninth meeting of the Japan-Philippines High Level Joint Committee on Infrastructure Development and Economic Cooperation was held on December 6, 2019, in Odawara/Hakone. The meeting was attended by Dr. Izumi Hiroto, Special Advisor to the Prime Minister, and others on the Japanese side; and by Mr. Carlos G. Dominguez, Secretary of Finance, and Mr. Ernesto M. Pernia, Secretary of National Economic and Development Authority, among others on the Philippine side.
2. The delegates gave status updates on the follow-through activities pertinent to the “Statement on Bilateral Cooperation for the Next Five Years, (PDF)
Joint ” declared upon President Duterte’s first visit to Japan in October 2017. Specifically, they discussed modalities of bilateral cooperation in order to resolve major challenges that the Philippine Government addresses, including flagship infrastructure projects such as Metro Manila’s railway development and bridge seismic reinforcement, projects toward the Mindanao peace process, which has broken a new stage with the commencement of disarmament activities, and assistance for regional development agenda such as Subic Bay area development.
3. The two sides shared their commitment to close coordination through this joint committee for the purpose of steady, substantive implementation of bilateral cooperation projects.
[Reference] Japan-Philippines High Level Joint Committee on Infrastructure Development and Economic Cooperation
On his visit to the Philippines in January 2017, Prime Minister Abe Shinzo announced Japan’s plan to provide one trillion yen in assistance over the following five years, including ODA and private-sector investment, and to establish a Joint Committee on Infrastructure Development and Economic Cooperation in order to monitor the assistance status and implement cooperation projects in public-private partnership toward Philippines’ nation-building.
The first meeting of the joint committee was held in Tokyo on March 27, 2017, followed by the second meeting in Manila on July 7, the third meeting in Tokyo on September 25, the fourth meeting in Cebu on February 12, 2018, the fifth meeting in Tokyo on June 20, the sixth meeting in Manila on November 21, the seventh meeting in Osaka on February 21, 2019, and the eighth meeting in Clark on June 18.