President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. on Wednesday welcomed Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) President Dr. Tanaka Akihiko and other guests at Malacañang Palace.

Marcos highlighted the longstanding partnership between JICA and the Philippines.

“JICA has always been the important partner for the Philippines,” Marcos said. “It started only with infrastructure but now you have also expanded into other areas so we hope we can continue, especially the green projects we have now."

Marcos noted that government projects with JICA have been progressing well and assured the agency of the Philippines’ willingness to assist whenever needed.

“If there is anything more that we can do from the Philippine side, we will be happy to hear any suggestions from JICA,” Marcos added.

For his part, Akihiko expressed sympathy for the victims of the six storms that recently hit the country.

“I would like to extend our condolences to the victims of the series of typhoons. As a country sharing a similar fate of having monsoon typhoons, the recent experience forced us to continue our collaborative work in disaster risk reduction,” he said.

He asked Marcos if he had any observations on how JICA could further extend its assistance.

Marcos mentioned the country’s ongoing challenges with flood-control projects, particularly in highly urbanized areas.

JICA has played a significant role in recent developments in the Philippines, particularly in infrastructure projects such as the Metro Manila Subway and the Light Rail Transit Line 1 Cavite Extension (L1CE).

It also assists in promoting cooperation between Japanese and Philippine companies, strengthening Public-Private Partnerships, and fostering economic development in sectors such as agriculture, health, water, and electricity.