Manila, April 30 -- The Philippines would receive reduced Japanese official development assistance (ODA) once it reaches an upper-middle-income status, but Tokyo said it can expect higher investments in return.

In a media luncheon in Makati City on Wednesday, Japanese Foreign Ministry Press Secretary Toshihiro Kitamura affirmed that Japan is eager to support the country reach its goal to graduate into an upper middle income state by 2026.

"Our ODA vary according to the category of the countries, if one country becomes a high-income country, probably we cannot provide the ODA as it were up to now," he said.

"But at the same time, ODA is not the only tool to support the economic growth of the country, we also mobilize our private sources...