SMALL and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Japan have shown strong interest in investing in the Philippines following the supportive stance of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to President Aquino during the just concluded conference of leaders in Manila.
Japanese SMEs are still showing good interest in investing in the Philippines, according to Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. Tokyo (Metrobank Tokyo) Manager Takeshi Odaka.
“When you look at the very positive and supportive posture, which Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has exhibited to our good friends in the Philippines, you can say that Japanese SMEs must feel more [comfortable] in doing business in the Philippines, since it points to the far better relationship between the two countries,” Odaka told the BusinessMirror.
Japanese SMEs face the challenges of securing qualitative manpower in Japan, partly due to the decreasing young generation and, because of this, the talented Filipino workers become so attractive for Japanese SMEs, he added.
Odaka said Japanese SMES will naturally “follow the wind” and you will see additional investments from Japanese SMEs in the Philippines.
“You must feel ‘vice versa’ when you do business with China.”
Odaka added that corporate remittance transaction value to the Philippines from Japan through Metrobank branches in Tokyo and Osaka posted a double-digit increase year-on-year for the January-to-October period.
Metrobank has established 63 alliances with Japanese regional banks and two government banks to support banking the needs of both Metrobank Philippines and Metrobank in Japan. Its largest Japanese regional bank alliance is with the Bank of Yokohama.
Meanwhile, Metrobank Assistant Vice President and Head of Research Marc Bautista said Japanese companies have continued to express interest in setting up shop in expectations of good consumption spending here versus the poor spending in their home country.
“Additionally, some of these Japanese companies are trying to diversify away from China and from some Asean [Association of Southeast Asian Nations] countries, but more as a matter of strategic concern rather than from political considerations,” he told the BusinessMirror.
“The leaders of Japan and China have taken great pains to separate the economic issues from the political ones. In this regard, we don’t see any changes in the major stance of these countries as far as trade and economic ties are concerned arising from the Apec summit,” he added.