Camille Naredo

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos join Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru and his spouse Ishiba Yoshiko during the welcome ceremony at the Kalayaan Hall,  Malacañang Palace, in Manila. Yummie Dingding, PPA Pool

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos  welcome Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru and his spoues Ishiba Yoshiko  during welcome ceremony in Kalayaan Hall,  Malacañang Palace, in Manila on Tuesday April 29, 2025. PHOTOS BY YUMMIE DINGDING / PPA POOL

Article (news)

PH-JAPAN

Katrina Domingo

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/174593818692220250429-japanese-pm-ishiba-PPA06.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos join Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru and his spouse Ishiba Yoshiko during the welcome ceremony at the Kalayaan Hall,  Malacañang Palace, in Manila. Yummie Dingding, PPA Pool"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos join Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru and his spouse Ishiba Yoshiko during the welcome ceremony at the Kalayaan Hall,  Malacañang Palace, in Manila. <em>Yummie Dingding, PPA Pool</em></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA — Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Tuesday committed to boost its economic partnerships with the Philippines to help the Southeast Asian country achieve its goal of being an upper middle income country.</p><p>President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s administration has been working to elevate the Philippines’ gross national income to at least $4,516 for it to be recognized as an upper middle income country, which signals investors that it has developed into a more stable economy that offers a better standard of living.</p><p>“I conveyed to President Marcos that Japan will cooperate with the Philippines making use of uniquely Japanese strengths for your country to aim for the upper middle income status that His Excellency is looking for,” Ishiba during his visit in Malacañang.</p><p>“I explained that we will work with the Philippines in a package of corporations covering telecommunications, AZEC, energy, mineral resources, infrastructure and disaster risk reduction and others,” he said.</p><p>“The president and I agreed to further strengthen our partnership on these areas.”</p><p>The Philippines earlier said that it can achieve the upper middle income status in 2026, but the World Bank said that the Southeast Asian country will likely hit the target in 2027 or about a year later than its original projection.</p><p>As of 2023, the Philippines remains a lower middle-income country as it GNI was pegged at $4,230, below the $4,516 to $14,005 GNI bracket for its coveted upper middle income status.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/4/29/japans-ishiba-arrives-in-malacanang-for-defense-talks-with-marcos-1804">READ: Japan&#x27;s Ishiba arrives in Malacañang for defense talks with Marcos Jr.</a></div><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/4/29/ph-japan-start-intel-sharing-talks-to-oppose-attempts-to-change-status-quo-in-intl-waters-2241">READ: PH, Japan start intel sharing talks to ‘oppose attempts to change status quo’ in int&#x27;l waters</a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>‘RELIABLE, STEADFAST PARTNER’</strong></div><p>Marcos Jr. thanked Japan for being a “reliable and steadfast partner in the region,” noting that the East Asian country is the Philippines’ second-largest trading partner.</p><p>“We appreciate Japan’s development assistance, which we see as the gold standard for development cooperation,” the Philippine President said.</p><p>“It is primarily because it supports our maritime domain awareness, infrastructure, food security, improved climate change adaptability, digital transformation, agriculture, space, cyber technology, health, energy, and many others,” he said, underscoring that Japan has also helped uplift the “economic competitiveness in Mindanao.”</p><p>Manila and Tokyo have also tackled how US President Donald Trump’s tariffs would affect their respective economies, the Japanese leader said.</p><p>“Many Japanese companies have been playing a role in the local economy here in the Philippines,” he said.</p><p>“I conveyed to President Marcos that I will listen carefully to the voices so that they will be able to bring forth better solutions.”</p><p>Japan is also keen on moving to “further deepen our cooperation” in agriculture, said Ishiba, who previously served as Japan’s Minister for Agriculture, Forestry Industries and Fisheries.</p><p>“President Marcos has very deep insight on agriculture… I was able to have a good exchange of views with His Excellency. So in the agriculture arena as well,” he said.</p><p>The Philippine-Japan relations is currently in its “golden age,” Marcos Jr. said.</p><p>“Our uninterrupted exchange of high-level visits over many years has demonstrated the importance that we accord to our bilateral relations, and to provide a platform to build upon our engagements for the stability, harmony, and shared benefit of our people,” he said.</p><p>The two countries will be celebrating their 70th anniversary of the normalization of our diplomatic relations, after it was severed during the second World War.</p><p>Ishiba is expected to travel to the province of Laguna on April 30 to visit the cenotaph for the Japanese who died in the Philippines during the war.</p><p>“Having gone through close to a century of hardships and efforts by our forefathers, I am deeply moved that Japan and the Philippines are now partners closing on alliance,” the Prime Minister said.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO:</strong></div><div><strong><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tMW88urGc2Q?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></strong><br/></div>

<p>Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Tuesday committed to boost its economic partnerships with the Philippines to help the Southeast Asian country achieve its goal of being an upper middle income country.</p>

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Tuesday committed to boost its economic partnerships with the Philippines to help the Southeast Asian country achieve its goal of being an upper middle income country.

Japan to boost economic packages to help PH achieve upper middle income status: Ishiba

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Japan to boost economic packages to help PH achieve upper middle income status: Ishiba

Katrina Domingo,

ABS-CBN News

Published April 29, 2025 10:51 PM PHT

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