Marcos eyeing Japanese investments in Philippine agriculture

TOKYO— President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is looking to talk with the Japanese as regards investments in the Philippines' agricultural sector and its agricultural products entering the Japanese market.

Marcos made the remarks on board PR001 en route to his working visit here.

“Number one, that opens up [not just] the usual exchange of technology—but that’s an important part of it—but also, investment in agriculture, and, hopefully opening up markets in Japan for our agricultural products,” Marcos said when asked about his expectations.

“So that’s a very wide-ranging discussion.  So, yes, we hope to do a lot in that regard [to accelerate our] agricultural development,” he added.

Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed that Japan is the Philippines’ third largest export market with $10.73 billion worth of export receipts in 2021.

In the same year, Japan was also the country’s second largest source of imported goods with a total trade value of $11.11 billion.

During his five-day visit, the President is expected to engage in bilateral meetings with Japan’s business leaders.

In his pre-departure speech, Marcos said his visit to Tokyo was "part of a larger foreign policy agenda to forge closer political ties, stronger defense and security cooperation as well as lasting economic partnerships with major countries in the region." —NB, GMA Integrated News