President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. welcomed Japanese lawmaker Hon. Fujita Fumitake to Malacañang on Monday, Aug. 3, saying the Philippines and Japan continue to deepen their ties not only in trade but also in defense, maritime security, investments and people-to-people exchanges.
During the courtesy call, Marcos Jr. thanked the member of Japan’s House of Representatives for visiting Manila after they failed to meet during the President’s state visit to Japan in May because of scheduling conflicts.
“Despite not being able to meet with you during our trip to Japan, you were able to come and be with us. Thank you very much. Japan has always been an important partner in the Philippine economic development ever since we have established our diplomatic relations, which has now expanded to every other areas of cooperation,” the President said.
Fujita, who is in the country from August 2 to 4, is co-representative of the Japan Innovation Party, a reform-oriented political party that supports Tokyo’s ruling coalition. The party has backed stronger cooperation with the Philippines in areas such as maritime security, defense, supply chain resilience and a rules-based Indo-Pacific.
The visit comes as Manila and Tokyo celebrate 70 years of diplomatic relations and 15 years of their strengthened strategic partnership.
Japan remains one of the Philippines’ biggest economic partners, top sources of investments and official development assistance, with more than 300 bilateral agreements already covering trade, infrastructure, defense, peace initiatives and other areas of cooperation.IMT
