RCBC ties up with Osaka Kobe banks to lure Japanese SMEs

MANILA -- A budding partnership between the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) and two banks under Resona Holdings, Inc. in Japan aims to bring more Japanese small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to the Philippines.

In a statement Tuesday, RCBC said Japan’s growing interest in investment opportunities in the Philippines led to the recent forging of a business alliance between RCBC, Osakabased Kansai Urban Banking Corp., and Kobe-based Minato Bank.

“These two banks are some of the best in the Osaka, Kansai area. Through them, we hope to bring more Japanese investors into the Philippines,” RCBC First Vice President Yasuhiro Matsumoto said.

“Likewise, RCBC can provide their banking requirements when they come to the Philippines,” Matsumoto added.

This week, the Philippine government led a delegation to Japan to call upon Japanese firms to look into investment opportunities in the country.

Earlier, the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) pushed for partnerships with Japanese banks in hopes of attracting more companies from Japan to locate in the country’s economic zones.

Currently, PEZA has six partnership agreements with Japanese banks such as Mizuho Bank, Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi, SumitomoMitsui Banking Corp., Resona Bank, Ogahi-Kyoritsu Bank, and Tokyo Star Bank to provide financial services to Japanese firms locating in PEZA zones.

Government data showed that Japan is the country’s top source of investment commitments among investment promotion agencies (IPAs) in 2017, amounting to PHP32 billion or accounting for 30 percent of the total foreign pledges last year.