DTI's Lopez: At least 10 business deals eyed in Duterte's third Japan visit

At least 10 business deals will be signed during President Rodrigo Duterte's third visit to Japan later this month, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said on Thursday.

Lopez said the Philippine business delegation and their Japanese counterparts are expected to sign at least two memoranda of understanding and eight letters of intent in the fields of electronics, manufacturing, data analytics, energy, tourism and transportation.

"[These are] companies that are already here that are intending to expand their operations," he told reporters in Malacañang.

"These are big Japanese companies na we cannot also ignore, they still want to express their support and confidence for the current administration and they want to indicate their intent to invest more."

Lopez could not yet give an estimated amount of investment pledges and the number of jobs to be created.

He said they will just come up with a report on the deals as Duterte might not be able to witness the exchange of agreements.

According to Lopez, the Philippines is also pushing for the lowering of tariffs imposed on banana products shipped to Japan in order to gain more access to the Japanese market.

Duterte is due to speak at the International Conference on The Future of Asia, a gathering of political, economic and academic leaders from the Asia-Pacific region, slated for May 30 to 31.

Lopez said Duterte will likely tackle the economic reforms aimed at attracting more foreign investment and the country's security agenda. 

The Palace has yet to confirm whether Duterte will hold talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during the visit.

Duterte first visited Japan as president in October 2016. He returned the following year which resulted in the signing of investment pledges worth $6 billion and a meeting with Emperor Emeritus Akihito and Empress Emerita Michiko. —LDF, GMA News