In a survey conducted by Japan Bank for International Cooperation, HE Philippines was ranked seventh most promising country/destination for overseas operations for the next three years (JBIC).
The survey, conducted among 530 Japanese companies in 2020, stated that "the actual level of foreign direct investment in the Philippines has been steadily increasing and the assessment of qualified human resources is high."

The Philippines is also considered by Japanese companies as "good for the diversification of risk to other countries."
China, India, Vietnam, Thailand, the United States, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Mexico, and Myanmar were the top ten countries in the 2020 JBIC survey.

The survey, along with Myanmar and Malaysia, described the Philippines among Japanese producers as "persistently popular."
In terms of major industries for overseas business, the Philippines was also Top 5 for electrical equipment and electronics, Top 8 for automobiles, and Top 8 for general machinery in the mid-term.

In the same survey in 2019, the Philippines was in the Top 7 overall.
Because of "the future growth potential of the local market, the country's cheap source of labor, the current size of the domestic market, the country being a supply base for assemblers and a base of exports to third countries," Japanese companies considered the Philippines a promising destination in the medium term.

However, the survey also showed some pressing investor concerns, such as underdeveloped infrastructure, difficulties in securing managerial staff, issues of security and social instability, intense competition with other companies operating in the country, and underdeveloped local support industries.
The survey said the Philippines appealed to companies that wanted to grow, noting that the country is second in the ASEAN to Indonesia in terms of the percentage of companies looking to expand or strengthen production and sales at 59.5 percent.

Japanese companies involved in metal products, vehicle-excluded transportation equipment, as well as electrical equipment and electronics have also chosen the Philippines as the country with the highest profit satisfaction.

The study also ranked the Philippines ninth among the nations and regions considered to be more profitable than Japan.

Jose Laurel 5th, Philippine Ambassador to Japan, welcomed the positive news, stating that "this affirms the Philippines' strong economic fundamentals as recognized by several international credit rating agencies."s