The Philippines is seeking to lure investment from Japanese companies that are being hurt by their country’s bitter territorial dispute with China, a senior trade official said on Wednesday.
Japanese firms in China have been targeted in recent weeks by demonstrators angered by the row over the Japan-held Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, claimed by China, which calls them Diaoyu, forcing some to shut down.
Philippine Trade Undersecretary Cristino Panlilio said the government was courting 15 of these companies with the best potential for relocating some of their operations from China to the Philippines.
“We don’t want to say we want to take advantage of the misery of others but we’re trying to be practical and help the Japanese,” Panlilio told reporters.
“We have marching orders to our trade attaches to approach these Japanese companies, both in China and Japan.”
He declined to name the companies that were being approached.