Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday pledged a ¥1 trillion aid package to the Philippines, including government aid and private investments, over the next five years to help its infrastructure development and strengthen strategic ties with the key Asia-Pacific nation.

"We will leverage Japanese technology and know-how to the fullest extent to positively cooperate for the improvement of infrastructure in Metro Manila and the whole of the Philippines," Abe told a joint news conference in Manila after meeting with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte.

Abe, who met Duterte for the third time, is the first foreign head of government to visit the Philippines since Duterte took power last June.