Teetime at Ayala Greenfield

Ayala-owned Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) held its first Kohaku Cup last week at the Ayala Greenfield Golf and Leisure Club in Calamba, Laguna attended by its top Japanese corporate clients.

Kohaku means red and white, and signifies happiness and celebration in Japanese culture. In Japan, you will see on several occasions the combination of red and white, which happens to be the brand colors of BPI as well.

Realizing that the Japanese put a premium on leisure activities (the Philippines has always been a top destination for Japanese tourists out on a golf holiday) and like to engage in healthy endeavors, the Kohaku Cup was born.

The tournament had the Japanese group divided into two groups, the East and the West, with the top 15 golfers from each group vying for the honor of being the Cup winners for 2013.

To add even more excitement, individual awards were also given, to recognize the sterling play of the golfers.

And the winners of the tournament were:

Team Champion: East team’s 1172 over the West’s 1177; Overall Net Champion: Shukan Nogi; Overall  Gross Champion: Hideyuki Morita; Class A Champion: Yoshiaki Ogino

Class A Runner-up: Akira Hirose; Class B Champion: Kazuo Tsuji; Class B Runner-up: Tsutomu Miura; Class C Champion: Isao sudo; Class C Runner-up: Masahiro Katayama.

And for the Special Holes: Nearest to the Pin — Susumu Endo; Longest Drive — Hiro Kasukawa; Most Accurate Drive — Sei Kudo; Longest Putt, Tetsuo Tomino.

In an interview, BPI vice president and Asian Corporates/PEZA Division head Joseph Anthony Alonso said that the bank expects a double-digit increase in the number of transactions as more Japanese businessmen invest or expand their existing operations in the Philippines in the coming months.

“Major drivers for this are the bank’s strong alliance with its Tokyo-based partners, the country’s strong macroeconomic fundamentals, the success of the Japanese firms in the Philippines, and the quality of the Filipino labor force. The country’s population is young and growing, both per capita GDP and per capita income. The Philippines as a growing market attracts Japanese investors,” Alonso explained.

BPI is committed to help Japanese clients find success in the Philippines, providing them with the advice and corporate solutions, tailor fit to their business needs. They also offer client-matching activities that help them partner with the best local firms to be able to invest and manage business in the Philippines.

The Ayala Group has close to 40 years of partnership with Japanese firms and has a dedicated BPI Japan Desk serving this client segment since the 1980s. The joint venture company BPI MS Insurance Corporation, which has been offering non-life insurance to clients for the past 11 years, is a result of the partnership between BPI and Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance, with BPI owning 51% of the firm.

The bank also forged partnerships with Mizuho Corporate Bank, Shizuoka Bank, and the Bank of Tokyo Lease and Finance to strengthen its capability to service its Japanese clients. “To support our clients, it would be beneficial for Japanese banks to have a strong local partner like BPI,” Alonso added.

It’s just fitting that BPI chooses to strengthen its relationship with its Japanese clients through sports, golf in this case, as it is widely known that sports has no boundaries.