The Foreign Affairs Ministry has announced that the Prime Minister of Japan, Fumio Kishida will undertake a working visit to Malaysia on Nov 4-5, marking his first visit to Malaysia since his appointment as Japan’s Prime Minister in October 2021.
In a statement, the Ministry said Kishida is scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting with his Malaysian counterpart Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim where both leaders are expected to review the progress of bilateral relations.
They are expected to look into cooperation in trade and investment, education, defence, environment, and energy security as well as information and communication apart from exchanging views on various regional and international issues of common interest including the Palestine-Israel conflict.
“The working visit is poised to further strengthen the already established good relations between the two countries. As Japan continues its vital role as ASEAN dialogue partner, this visit holds special significance as it coincides with the commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of ASEAN-Japan Friendship and Cooperation this year,” said the statement.
For eight successive years since 2015, Japan has been Malaysia’s fourth-largest trading partner. In 2022, trade with Japan was valued at RM181.51 billion (US$4.21 billion), contributing 6.4 percent of Malaysia’s total trade.
As of June 2023, a total of 2,778 projects by Japanese companies have been implemented in Malaysia, with investments amounting to RM91.89 billion (US$27.43 billion).
However, it is worth noting that Japan was once among the biggest trade partners with Malaysia, according to United Nations Comteade Malaysia’s exports were close to US$20 billion in 2015 but then declined US$15 billion in 2016 only to rise again to above US$18 billion in 2021. Competition has come in the form of Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand which is more preferred by Japanese companies as compared to Malaysia. Whereas Vietnam’s exports to Japan rose in 2021 to over US$21 billion in that year,
In terms of Foreign Direct Investment, Japan has also been holding back preferring Thailand and Vietnam, however, MITI Minister Tengku Zafruil is confident of hitting the RM30 billion benchmark for this year.
