SPPI Chairman & CEO Joins Presidential State Visit to Japan

Science Park of the Philippines, Inc. Chairman and CEO Guillermo D. Luchangco joined the business delegation of H.E.President Benigno S. Aquino III during his State Visit to Japan from June 2 to 5, 2015. The four-day state visit was aimed at fortifying security ties and strengthening trade and investment opportunities between the Philippines and Japan.

The business delegation accompanying President Aquino was upbeat about business prospects, with the four day schedule packed with meetings, networking luncheons and business matching with executives from groups that included the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Japan Association of Corporate Executives, Japan Foreign Trade Council, Nippon Keidanren, and the Japan-Philippines Economic Cooperation Committee.

On the second day, among the activities were the Economic Briefing by the Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and a special session of the 21st Nikkei International Conference on the Future of Asia held at the Okura Hotel with President Aquino as keynote speaker.

Similar activities continued during the third day and were instrumental in encouraging the increase in the bilateral economic partnership between the two countries. Among these activities was the Philippine Investment Forum organized by the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), JPECC, JCCI, AJC, the Philippine Society of Japan and the Philippine Embassy headed by Ambassador Manolo Lopez.

For the President’s part, his schedule also included an elaborate welcome ceremony at the Imperial Palace hosted by Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko and a meeting with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to strengthen security ties between the two nations as Southeast Asian nations face China’s growing naval ambitions. The President also spoke before a session of the National Diet.

The Chairman Luchangco welcomed the new improved business confidence and optimism in the country and further added that, “the visit was very successful from the standpoint of inviting Japanese investments, and the Japanese industries, as a whole, made it clear that they had decided that the Philippines was a priority destination for their investments. We can expect a flood of Japanese companies.”

It will be recalled that the Chairman also joined the business delegation of President Aquino during his Singapore State Visit in March 2011 and the working visits to the United Kingdom and the United States last June 4 to 8, 2012.

SPPI was established in 1989, and through the years, has gained the reputation of being a cutting edge developer of industrial estates through its Light Industry & Science Park projects.

Today, SPPI is highly regarded as one of the pioneers and leaders in private industrial estate development in the country and has the largest hectarage of industrial estates developed, and being developed with almost 800 hectares of aggregate area.