Palace: President Aqunio's Japan visit to cost gov't P20M

President Benigno Aquino III's upcoming visit to Japan will cost some P20 million, Malacañang said Saturday.

Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. said Aquino and his 63-member delegation will fly to Japan via a special commercial flight Sunday morning.

"According to Ochoa, the P20-million budget covers expenses for the special commercial flight, hotel accommodations, food, transportation, and telecommunications and equipment requirements," Malacañang said in a statement.

Also, it said said the visit is expected to bring in some $1 billion in fresh investments and more than Y9 billion (P5.1188 billion) in official development assistance.

Expected to accompany Aquino are:

• Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario
• Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo
• Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima
• Transportation Secretary Manuel Roxas II
• Energy Secretary Rene Almendras.

“In this trip, our President wishes to further advance our strategic cooperation with Japan, our friend for more than half a century now. We always look forward to stronger bilateral relations with one of our important partners in the region," Ochoa said.

While in Japan, Aquino will pay a state call on Emperor Akihito and meet with Japan’s new Prime Minister, Yoshihiko Noda, to discuss issues to further advance the two countries’ strategic partnership.

Other highlights of the working visit include a keynote speech at the Philippine Economic Forum and meetings with major business groups, among them Keidanren, Japan Business Federation, Japan-Tokyo Chambers of Commerce and Industry, and Japan Philippines Economic Cooperation Committee.

Aquino will also witness the signing of several memorandums of agreement on new investment projects in energy, mining, property development, automotive, ship-building and infrastructure development under the public-private partnership (PPP) scheme.

Top officials of big Japanese companies are also scheduled to meet with the President.

Aquino is also set to meet the Filipino community in Tokyo and in Miyagi, one of the prefectures in northeastern Japan hardest hit by the earthquake and tsunami on March 11.

He will return on September 28.

In an earlier interview on government-run dzRB radio, deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte also said the Philippines can expect to gain lessons from the Japanese people's civic-mindedness and disaster preparedness.

According to her, the Japanese struggled to pay their taxes days after a devastating magnitude-9 quake and a 10-meter-high tsunami that hit the country last March 11.

Another lesson Filipinos should learn is disaster preparedness. She said “President Aquino is mainly interested in disaster preparedness, particularly in how the Japanese managed to cope with the twin tragedies that hit them."