Japanese businessmen eager to meet Duterte

TOKYO – When President Duterte meets with Japanese businessmen at an economic forum here, he will witness the signing of eight letters of intent (LOI) and memorandum of understanding (MOU), Tokyo consul general Marian Jocelyn Tirol-Ignacio said yesterday.

“This is intended to generate investment into the Philippines. We have big companies both in the manufacturing and in the investment sector, in the agricultural sector,” Ignacio added.

Japanese businessmen are eager to meet the tough-talking Duterte who has generated much interest here, apparently due to the controversy caused by his tirades against the United States, the United Nations and the European Union.

Ignacio said Duterte has become so popular in Japan and that many businessmen and corporate executives are eager to meet him personally.

“The economic forum is important because for the first time, our Japanese business partners will have their first look at the President,” she said.

“He has generated a lot of interest here in Japan and as you are aware, there is a lot of investment by the Japanese in the Philippines, so what they want to see is they want to know that the 10-point agenda of the President can be expounded and explained possibly in business terms,” she pointed out.

“This is an important meeting if only because he will be meeting the large companies that have invested in the Philippines,” Ignacio added.

Meanwhile, Ignacio said she is hopeful the Maritime Safety Capability Improvement Project (MSCIP) will proceed smoothly in its second phase of implementation. The BRP Tubbataha has recently been delivered to the Philippine Coast Guard as part of the project.

“We are actually awaiting now the delivery of the second multi rapid response vessel, the first one, which is Tubbataha, has already arrived in the Philippines. So the second one is due for, is already going to be named, in fact, so we hope for delivery at the end of this year,” she added.