Washington, D.C., U.S.A.
April 11, 2024

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. met with Ken Kobayashi, Chairman of the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI), during his Official Visit to Washington, D.C., United States of America.

Mr. Kobayashi paid a courtesy call on the President in Manila last October 2023 when he led the JCCI’s first foreign economic mission since the pandemic, citing the importance of the Philippines in Asia and JCCI’s renewed interest in strengthening their partnership with the country due to the Philippines’ continuing high-level economic growth under the Marcos Administration that makes it an attractive investment destination.

President Marcos Jr. relayed that since JCCI’s economic mission, the Philippines started to increase its involvement with JCCI in the areas of infrastructure, manufacturing and other new industries that the country is targeting to develop.

He cited that Japan has always been such a big part of Philippine development through various means and urged Japanese companies to continue supporting the country at an even faster pace. He noted that unemployment rate dropped to 3.5 percent while underemployment dropped to 12 percent.

JCCI is the largest business organization in Japan, having 1.25 million companies ranging from big corporations to small and medium sized enterprises, and comprising 515 local chambers across Japan.

Hitoshi Takao from JCCI and Jaime Zobel de Ayala joined Ken Kobayashi in the courtesy call while the rest of the attendees included House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Alfredo Pascual, Department of Finance (DOF) Secretary Ralph Recto, Philippine Ambassador to Japan Mylene Garcia-Albano and Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel Romualdez.

* * *