Subic, Osaka explore trade partnership
Trade and cargo volume between the Philippines and Japan is set to increase as the two governments considered opening a Manila-Subic-Osaka route for major shipping lines.
Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority Chairman and Administrator Eduardo Jose Aliño said that SBMA and Port of Osaka are exploring port-related businesses while tapping the potential of both ports in initiating cargo traffic between the two countries.
“The Philippines is among the world’s fastest-growing economies with an average annual growth rate of six to seven percent per year,” Aliño said during the Osaka Ports and Harbors Bureau Mission to the Philippines on Thursday, February 8.
“After diving into a slump in the growth of its gross domestic product in 2022 due to Covid, we can now hope, dream, and expect to marvel at a new dawn, and proudly become an indispensable and crucial part in the financial and industrial development of international trade.”
Osaka Ports and Harbors Bureau Director General Maruyama Junya, meanwhile, said that his visit to Subic Bay Freeport is an opportunity to share information on port development, port management, and logistics, and to promote mutual exchanges.
“Osaka Port has developed as an international trade port with industrial and financial development in the Kansai area. We are working actively on further development through improving port facilities and carrying out port sales,” Junya said.
“In 2023, we have decided to focus on the Philippines, one of the Southeast Asian countries that has been developing remarkably against a backdrop of high economic growth in recent years, and organized a port sales team with Kobe-Osaka International Port Corporation and other transport companies.”
He also said that during the Philippine Investment Forum in November 2023, a lecture and interview with Business and Investment Department for Manufacturing and Maritime manager Karen Magno “triggered our great interest in the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority.”
Aliño, Magno, Senior Deputy Administrators Ronnie Yambao and Renato Lee 3rd, and Seaport Department Officer in Charge Michael Lazaro provided an extensive briefing on Thursday.
“In 2023, our cargo volume has reached to 6.4 million metric tons with lumber, tires and motor vehicles as the top commodities handled at the Port of Subic Bay, both for import and export,” Yambao said.
“By expanding our network and developing this new shipping route, we are also providing more economic opportunities that will increase our trade and cargo volume between our ports,” he added.
The port administrators and related parties from Osaka include Osaka Ports and Harbors Bureau Director Takahashi Hiroshi, Promotion Department Section chief Shiba Toshihiro, Kobe-Osaka International Port Corp. President Kido Takafumi, Osaka Area Facility Section chief Tsuji Genta, and Osaka Port Corporation assistant manager Yamada Akiko.
Also part of the Japanese delegation are port and harbor transportation business operators such as Sumitomo Warehouse Co. Marine Osaka branch manager Machida Ryota; Tatsumi Shokai Co. Ltd. general manager Teramoto Teruya and chief Asai Kei; Nissin Corp. Hanshin Marine Department deputy general managers Imoto Masaya and Mori Makata; Konoike Transport Co. Ltd. general manager Kanda Shigeru; Sankyu Inc. Osaka Branch general manager Tamura Kei; Shosen Koun Co. Ltd. group leader Okumura Kazunari; Nippon Express Co. Ltd. Osaka International Transport Branch Nanko International Office general manager Hiraoka Motonobu; and Mitsubishi Logistics Corp. Osaka Branch deputy general manager Shinichiro Nakajima.