Trilateral U.S.-Japan-Philippines: Advancing Private Sector Partnerships

On April 20, the US-Philippines Society and Sasakawa USA organized a roundtable luncheon entitled “US-Japan-Philippines: New Strategic Frontier” to discuss developments in trilateral relations and conclusions from our February 12 trilateral forum in Tokyo, which was organized in partnership with Sasakawa USA and the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS). US-Philippines Society Co-Chair Ambassador John Negroponte and Philippine Ambassador Jose Manuel Romualdez provided remarks, and Sasakawa USA Chairman Satohiro Akimoto moderated the discussion. Participating at the roundtable were Ambassadors Thomas Hubbard, John Maisto, and MaryKay Carlson and Philippine Embassy DCM Felipe Cariño, along with Washington policy experts and Japan business and development representatives.

A key theme was the importance of “delivery” and “scaling” – in the words of Ambassador Romualdez – now that trilateral cooperation has quickly become institutionalized in each country’s foreign policy. For the first time, Japan’s Self-Defense Forces (SDF) deployed about 1,400 personnel marking active participation in the annual Balikatan Exercises shoulder to shoulder with U.S. and Filipino troops according to Ambassador Negroponte. Conversation focused on developments in security cooperation and opportunities for closer collaboration on critical minerals, shipbuilding, and other areas of industrial cooperation. The meeting provided a unique opportunity to share perspectives on US-Philippines relations and to introduce the US-Philippines Society to prominent members of the US-Japan expert and business community.