TOKYO: Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob made his maiden official visit to Japan recently since taking over as Prime Minister on Aug 21.
The Prime Minister was accompanied by among others, Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Abdullah; International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali, Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri M Saravanan and Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu.
The six-day visit, from May 23 to 28, was held in conjunction with the 27th International Conference on The Future of Asia and his attendance at the event was on the invitation of Nikkei Inc.
The Prime Minister also received an Honorary Doctorate in Medicine from Nihon University, one of the most distinguished and oldest private universities in Japan.
The award according to the Prime Minister was a manifestation of the recognition given to “Keluarga Malaysia” who was instrumental in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.
The honorary degree was in appreciation of Ismail Sabri’s efforts and contributions in the fight against the pandemic.
In conjunction with the visit, the Prime Minister also took the opportunity to meet “Keluarga Malaysia” or Malaysians living in Japan, at a Hari Raya Aidilfitri gathering.
He also held a meeting with the Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida aimed at enhancing existing relations and cooperation in various fields, besides engaging with corporate leaders and businessmen from several leading companies in Japan.
Ismail Sabri also took the opportunity to meet his Singapore counterpart Lee Hsien Loong where they discussed matters of mutual interest.
On the first day, the Prime Minister visited Itabashi City Hall where he met industry leaders and representatives of Japanese companies operating in the Itabashi region.
A new cooperation agreement has also been reached between Itabachi City and Kuala Lumpur, including the smart city cooperation and the Target of the Sustainable Development Growth (SDG); in addition to cooperation in handling disaster especially in efforts to address and counter flood issues.
Federal Territories’ Minister, Datuk Seri Dr Shahidan Kassim and Kuala Lumpur City Mayor, Datuk Seri Mahadi Che Ngah later held discussions with the Itabashi City Mayor, Takeshi Sakamoto on the same issue, that is efforts to address and counter the floods in Kuala Lumpur.
The Prime Minister did not mince his words when he said that he would champion the cause of Bahasa Melayu.
True to his word, he spoke entirely in Bahasa Melayu in his keynote address at the International Conference on The Future of Asia.
Ismail Sabri also put forward three major proposals at the conference, also known as Nikkei Conference, that would enable Asia to play a leading role.
They were strengthening regional economic integration, strengthening cooperation and consultation mechanisms, as well as cooperation in addressing the challenges of climate change.
“These are among the things that can be given attention to in offering solutions to global issues and at the same time, enhance multilateral cooperation among countries in Asia,” Ismail Sabri said at the annual conference with the theme “Redefining Asia’s Role in a Divided World.”
On Malaysia’s approach in tackling regional and international issues, he stressed that more committed efforts were needed to deal with the challenges faced by Asean.
The highlight of the Prime Minister’s official working visit to Tokyo was the meeting with the Japanese Prime Minister, where like the Nikkei Conference, he addressed Kishida in Bahasa Melayu.
The bilateral talks with Kishida turned out to be very positive with both parties coming to an agreement on numerous matters especially in strengthening the long-established Malaysia-Japan relations.
This was the first face-to-face meeting between Ismail Sabri and Kishida since they assumed their posts in 2021.
The visit reflects the importance of the Malaysia–Japan relations as both countries commemorate the 65th anniversary of diplomatic relations and the 40th Anniversary of the Look East Policy (LEP) this year.
The Prime Minister also expressed his appreciation to Kishida for the support and assistance extended by Japan to Malaysia’s development efforts in the context of the implementation of the LEP.
He had also expressed Malaysia’s willingness to continue the LEP with Japan by developing new cooperation agreements in areas such as energy, smart city, environment and climate change which were well received by Kishida.
Kishida also welcomed the proposal to upgrade ties from strategic partnership to comprehensive strategic partnership.
In 2015, Kishida, in his capacity as Foreign Minister, visited Malaysia and in that same year, Malaysia-Japan ties had been upgraded from enhanced partnership to strategic partnership.
Both Prime Ministers had agreed that discussions at the officers’ level be initiated to streamline efforts towards this end. Malaysia and Japan will draft out an action plan which will be implemented by both countries.
During the meeting, Ismail Sabri told Kishida that Malaysia had opened its borders to international travellers since early April, and Japan on the other hand, will open its borders to Malaysian travellers from June 1.
On Japan’s plan to set up a branch campus of Tsukuba University in Malaysia, the Prime Minister gave his assurance that the matter would be finalised soon.
Economic relations between Malaysia and Japan are also very encouraging. Japan is Malaysia’s fourth largest trading partner with trade valued at USD35.9bil in 2021 compared with USD29.6bil in 2020 – an increase of 20%.
Japan is also Malaysia’s third largest foreign investor in the manufacturing sector for implemented projects valued at USD27.6bil involving 2,709 projects.
In 2021, a total of USD1.81bil in investments were recorded involving 25 manufacturing sector projects.
Both leaders have also agreed to further improve relations in trade and investment.