MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte’s economic managers are in Tokyo for an investment roadshow and meetings with their Japanese counterparts, officials said Monday.
An economic briefing is scheduled in the Japanese capital on Monday. Filipino officials will also pitch the Philippines planned samurai or yen-denominated bonds, officials said.
Socioeconomic Planning secretary Ernesto Pernia said he would tell Japanese businessmen that “the growth trajectory is still on the upswing.”
Growth in the gross domestic product will be “even better” in the second quarter, compared to the 6.8-percent expansion in the first 3 months of 2018, Pernia told ANC’s Market Edge with Cathy Yang.
“It will be driven by the policy reforms that are going to take hold,” he said.
The Duterte government in January implemented the first tranche of tax reforms, which aims to help fund a P8-trillion infrastructure program.
Last May, Duterte signed the Ease of Doing Business Act, which seeks to cut red tape and make government transactions faster.
Finance secretary Carlos Dominguez is leading the Philippine delegation, according to a statement from his office.
Dominguez will meet with officials from Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Nomura, Mizuho, Daiwa, and the Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp for the samurai bonds, which the Philippines plans to sell in the second half, the statement said.
A high-level meeting on the infrastructure program dubbed “Build, Build, Build” is scheduled on Wednesday, the statement said.
“We will look at our projects, to review the progress and to see if there are any bottlenecks we can eliminate,” Dominguez said. (ABS-CBN News)
