Aquino brings home $2.85-B in investments from Japan

UPDATED 5:00 p.m. - The Philippine government has secured $2.85 billion worth of potential investments from Japan, President Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" Aquino III said upon his return to Manila Monday. The President also expects that some $2.6 billion in other investments may come from Japan, where he attended the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. "Di bababa ang new investments sa $2.85 billion. Kung papayag po tayo, meron pa hong mga negosyo na hindi bababa naman po sa $2.6 billion ulit dahil nasa final stages na po ng kanilang preparation," Aquino said in his arrival statement. (The new investments are not lower than $2.85 billion. If we agree, there are also business who want to invest another $2.6 billion because they are in the final stages of their preparation.) Aquino was in Japan from November 12 to 15 for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. The president also met with heads of Japanese corporations Marubeni, Toshiba, and Itochu in Japan. Among the economic projects that the President secured was a $122-million investment of Itochu Corp. for the construction of a bio-ethanol plant in Isabela, Aquino mentioned in an interview with Palace reporters. "It's a contract-growing scheme, so they're the ones who will be giving us the most number of people actually working," said the president. Toshiba pledged $133 million for the expansion of its electronic products in the Philippines, Aquino said. Marubeni, meanwhile, will invest P2.6 billion in three Philippine coal-fired power plants — Sual, Calaca, and Pagbilao, Aquino said. Marubeni signed a letter of intent with representatives of the Philippine government, he said. The possible projects with Japanese business amounting to another $2.6 billion that have still not been finalized are the expansion of the MRT and LRT 2 commuter train lines, and the construction of a liquefied natural gas plant, among others. The official figure of $2.85 billion in sure investments that Aquino announced upon his arrival is lower than the preliminary figure of $3.65 billion announced by Malacañang last week. However, the figure is higher than the $2.4 billion in investments Aquino announced during his week-long trip to the United States in September. Closer ties Aside from the investments, Aquino also boasted of developing closer ties with the leaders of various countries during the APEC summit. "Marami tayong mga kasunduang pwedeng mangyari na napag-usapan natin sa ibang mga liderato. Talagang may kumpyansa tayo sa napakarami sa kanila, tawagan na lang po ‘pag nireresolba ang mga problema ng isa’t isa tungo sa mga relasyon sa kanyang kapwa," he said in his arrival statement. (There are a lot of possible agreements that we discussed with various leaders. We are confident that we can just call several of them to resolve whatever problems we may have with each other.) Later, in an interview with reporters, Aquino mentioned that he talked to New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and US President Barack Obama on the sidelines of the APEC summit about the travel advisories about the danger of terrorist attacks in the Philippines. "I took the opportunity to ask him (Obama) that we be treated in the same manner that other countries are being treated," Aquino said. Travel advisories Aquino noted that the US issued only travel alerts — which he said have a shorter duration than travel advisories — on two countries one of which had a terrorist attack directed at tourists and the other is alleged to be an "incubator of jihadists." "He said he'll talk to his people to review their procedures and to ensure that there's... fairness," Aquino said. Aquino had previously said the travel advisories have no adequate basis because these were likely based on unverified raw data. He also said the countries which issued the advisories could have talked to the Philippine government first since they are mostly allies of the Philippines. Aquino's trip to Japan is expected to be his last foreign trip for the year. He has had only three foreign trips for 2010, the first to the US where he attended the United Nations General Assembly and met with several business leaders. His second official visit was to Vietnam where he attended the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit. – VVP/HS, GMANews.TV