THE Japanese government has pledged to support the Philippines' bid in attaining upper-middle-income country status by providing significant official development assistance (ODA) and private sector investments.

'As the Philippines pursues upper-middle-income status by 2025, we remain committed to working closely with the Government of Japan in continuing bilateral cooperation to pursue priority development projects,' Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno said in a statement on Tuesday during the 14th Philippines-Japan High-Level Joint Committee Meeting on Infrastructure Development and Economic Cooperation.