BDO-Unibank, Joyo Bank sign pact to help Japan’s SMEs set up in PH market

MANILA, Philippines — Local banking giant BDO Unibank has teamed up with The Joyo Bank Ltd. of Japan to help Japanese small and medium enterprises gain a foothold in the Philippine market.

The two banks signed a memorandum of agreement to enable BDO to provide assistance to Joyo Bank’s SME clients. BDO’s support might be in the form of financial or non-financial advisory services, the local bank said in a press statement.

The agreement is an offshoot of the 2013 memorandum of understanding between BDO and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) essentially promoting the development and strengthening of a framework to support Japanese mid-tier companies as well as SMEs through Japanese regional banks (JRB).

These JRBs, strategically situated in the various prefectures of one of the world’s largest economies, will be the conduits for their SME clients requiring banking support when they decide to set up shop in the Philippines.

Joyo Bank is a 79-year-old bank and a leading financial institution in the Ibaraki Prefecture and surrounding regions while BDO, which is led by the country’s leading conglomerate SM Investments, provides an extensive range of customized and cutting edge banking solutions to its growing corporate, institutional and retail client base.

“BDO will continue to collaborate closely with JBIC to explore more tie-ups and potentially assist the Japanese SMEs to establish operations throughout the Philippines, including the special economic zones,” the local bank said.