The Finance Department on Friday said Mizuho Bank Ltd. of Japan has expressed interest to invest in the Philippines, especially in infrastructure projects.
Mizuho, the retail and corporate banking unit of the Mizuho Financial Group, one of the biggest financial services companies in Japan with total assets of approximately $1.64 trillion in 2014, relayed the interest in a recent meeting with Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III..
“We want to expand our business here, and we ask for your support,” said Mizuho Bank president and chief executive officer Nobuhide Hayashi.
Dominguez urged Hayashi to focus on infrastructure, an area where the Philippines plans to invest heavily to fill the gap left behind by previous administrations.
Hayashi said Mizuho Bank was “very interested in infrastructure” as part of its plans of expanding its business in the Philippines.
He said Mizuho Bank was aware of one of the Philippines’ major infrastructure projects, including Philippine National Railways’ North South Commuter Railway Project in Luzon.
The project will be funded with development assistance loans from the Japan International Cooperation Agency.
The initial phase of the project involves a 38-kilometer elevated commuter rail from Tutuban, Manila, to Malolos, Bulacan.
Jica has also been providing assistance to the Philippines in improving the country’s security capabilities.
Earlier, the Philippines and Japan formalized several agreements to improve Manila’s maritime safety capability, including a deal for a 16.5-billion yen concessional loan covered by Tokyo’s official development assistance for the acquisition of two large-scale patrol vessels by the Philippine Coast Guard.
The yen loan was signed by Dominguez and Jica president Shinichi Kitaoka during the recent official visit of President Rodrigo Duterte.