PUTRAJAYA, Dec 16 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida on Saturday announced the elevation of Malaysia-Japan ties to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership where both countries agreed to further enhance cooperation in five key areas.
These areas are Peace and Security Cooperation; Continued Engagement at All Levels for Economic Prosperity; Science, Technology, Innovation and Environment; Society, Cultural and People-to-People Exchange; and Regional and Global Cooperation, said the Foreign Ministry (Wisma Putra).
During the meeting, held at the sidelines of the Asean-Japan Commemorative Summit, both prime ministers also discussed ways to further expand cooperation in various areas including trade and investment, defence, education, energy transition and capacity building between Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Malaysian Technical Cooperation Programme (MTCP) of Wisma Putra.
"They also touched on the establishment of University Tsukuba branch campus in Malaysia which is expected to receive the first enrolment of students in September 2024," the statement read.
In 2022, Malaysia's trade with Japan was valued at RM181.51 billion (US$41.21 billion), contributing 6.4 per cent of Malaysia’s total trade and making it Malaysia’s fourth-largest trading partner for eight successive years since 2015, said Wisma Putra.
Japan is one of the top sources of foreign direct investment (FDI) for Malaysia in terms of implemented manufacturing projects since 1980s.
As of June 2023, a total of 2,778 manufacturing projects have been implemented with total investment worth RM91.89 billion (US$27.43 billion).
"The elevation of bilateral relations marks a new chapter in Malaysia-Japan bilateral ties," said Wisma Putra adding that Malaysia is confident that this renewed commitment will lead to even closer cooperation and greater benefits for both countries.
-- Bernama
