The country’s leading lender BDO Unibank has teamed up with Japan’s third largest regional bank, Bank of Fukuoka Ltd. (BoF), to serve Japanese firms doing business in the Philippines.
BDO and BoF signed a memorandum of understanding to service the needs of the latter’s clients should they decide to expand their business or set up shops in the country.
This is seen as a major milestone for BDO as no Japanese regional bank (JRB) in the Kyushu region had aligned with any Philippine bank in the past.
The Kyushu region accounts for almost 10 percent of Japan’s gross domestic product (GDP) and total population. It is one of the major centers of production for the automotive, integrated circuits, agriculture and food industries.
Founded in 1942, BoF has 170 branches and representative offices in Dalian, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Taipei, Bangkok, Singapore, Ho Chi Minh City and New York.
Since 2013, BDO has sealed agreements with several JRBs situated in the various prefectures of Japan, the world’s third largest economy.
These JRBs serve as conduits of their clients currently doing business in the Philippines or eyeing the country as their next business hub.
These partnerships with a number of Japanese banks are deemed as a byproduct of the previous MoU entered into by BDO with the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) essentially promoting the development of a framework to support Japanese mid-tier companies and small and medium enterprises.