February 8-12, 2023

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. embarks on a five-day Official Visit to Tokyo, Japan from February 8–12, 2023 upon the invitation of Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio.

Together with the rest of the Philippine delegation, the official visit of President Marcos Jr. is considered vital and consequential as Japan is one of the Philippines’ strategic partners in the region. According to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), the trip is expected to reaffirm the strong relations between the two countries anchored on maximizing potentials of the Philippines-Japan partnership in defense, security, political, economic and people-to-people ties.

Among the highlights of his official visit is the signing of bilateral documents and agreements in various areas of cooperation such as infrastructure development, defense, agriculture, and information and communications technology (ICT). Moreover, he is expected to engage in roundtable discussions and meetings with some of Japan’s biggest and leading business companies.

Aside from his meeting with Prime Minister Fumio, the Chief Executive is set to have an imperial audience with Their Majesties Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako, as well as a get-together with the Filipino community in Japan.

In a recent press briefing by the DFA, Japan is the Philippines’ second largest trading partner, third largest export market and the country’s second top source of imports in 2021. It is also the country’s biggest source of official development assistance (ODA) that continues to provide loans in financing important infrastructure projects, social safety net programs, education, agriculture, science and technology support, and other impactful programs.

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