Security Bank, MUFG move to promote PH-Japan business partnerships

Pitching the Philippines’ “demographic sweet spot,” Security Bank and Japan’s largest bank, MUFG, have teamed up for the second year in a row to play cupid to Philippine and Japanese businesses seeking cross-border partnerships and business deals.

Security Bank and MUFG on Wednesday arranged 224 business collaboration meetings to provide clients a venue to expand their network and customer base. The business matching was aimed at helping strengthen trade relations between the Philippines and Japan.

The business matching fair attracted 87 businesses in the fast-moving consumer good (FMCG) industry. Of these, 43 were Japanese firms, seven were from Thailand and Vietnam and the rest were Philippine firms.

“We are providing a streamlined avenue for both Philippine and Japanese clients to meet and possibly seal a deal, furthering their business relations and even strengthening our country’s exports,” Security Bank president Alfonso Salcedo said yesterday.

In a briefing, Salcedo said the business matching event would help local businesses access the global marketplace.

Salcedo said Security Bank and MUFG had screened the reputable and credit-worthy businesses to link up with prospective foreign partners. Business meetings typically lasted about 50 minutes and each group had an opportunity to meet seven to 20 prospective partners.

“Other than helping our clients grow their business, we hope in that our own little way Security Bank will be able to contribute to attracting FDI (foreign direct investment) into the country,” Salcedo said. He said the first business matching event held last year had already translated to some tangible deals, including those involving agribusiness enterprises.

MUFG’s head of financial solutions group, Makoto Kobayashi, said: “MUFG has been in the Philippines for about 100 years. It is a very important market for our regional growth strategy, which is why we are putting in tremendous effort to combine MUFG’s global network and resources with SBC’s local reach and expertise to maximize our service contributions to customers in both Philippines and Japan.”