Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 1) — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will be in Japan from Feb. 8 to 12, his third foreign trip this year after his state visit to China and his participation at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland in January.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said it considers Marcos’ visit to Japan “consequential,” with seven bilateral key agreements expected to be signed on top of business deals.
The chief executive will be joined by First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, House Speaker Martin Romualdez, former president and current House Deputy Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, as well as Cabinet secretaries, among other government officials.
A large business delegation will also come with Marcos, the DFA said, but there was no given number of participants yet.
Schedule, meetings
Marcos will depart Manila in the afternoon of Feb. 8 and will arrive in Tokyo in the early evening, DFA Assistant Secretary Neal Imperial said in a media briefing on Feb. 1.
The president’s official activities will begin on Feb. 9. Among his appointments is with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who invited him to visit the East Asian country during their first meeting in September 2022 at the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.
“Both leaders will discuss a broad range of bilateral and regional issues to further strengthen the two countries’ cooperation in the second decade of their strategic partnership,” Imperial said.
The DFA added Marcos and the first lady will be given an imperial audience with Japanese Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako “at an unspecified date and time.”
Roundtable and business meetings, business calls on the president, and a business seminar will be held on Feb. 9 and 10.
“The president will also be meeting with CEOs of Japanese shipping companies and associations to advance partnerships with Philippine stakeholders in maritime education and welfare programs for our seafarers,” Imperial said.
On the morning of Feb. 12, his flight back to the Philippines, Marcos is expected to meet with over a thousand members of the Filipino community in Tokyo.
The chief executive is scheduled to arrive in Manila in the evening.
Deals seen to be inked
The DFA said it anticipates the signing of seven key bilateral documents or agreements, covering cooperation in areas that are part of Marcos’ priority agenda. Imperial noted these include the areas of infrastructure development, defense, agriculture, and information and communications technology.
He said the Marcos administration expects the defense departments of both countries to ink an umbrella terms of reference on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief cooperation.
The official added that Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo will sign an exchange of notes on loan agreements on infrastructure, particularly on the North-South Commuter Railway project from Malolos, Bulacan to Clark International Airport, and from Tutuban to Calamba, Laguna.
“This will involve around $3-billion worth of loans that will be later signed also by the Department of Finance,” Imperial said.
According to the DFA, Japan is the first country with which the Philippines has forged a strategic partnership.
Japan is also one of only two strategic partners of the Philippines, the other one being Vietnam, and the only nation with which Manila has a bilateral free trade agreement.
The DFA added that Japan has been the country’s biggest bilateral source of active official development assistance, providing concessional loans to finance “high-impact” programs, such as on infrastructure, social safety nets, education, agriculture, and science and technology support.
