TOKYO – Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio met with Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri Yaakob for a summit meeting. The meeting was followed by a ceremony where the two countries signed notes.

Minister of Justice Furukawa Yoshihisa, Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Suematsu Shinsuke, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Hagiuda Koichi, and Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Isozaki Yoshihiko were also at the meeting and ceremony, according to a statement from the Foreign Ministry.

Japan and Malaysia will have had diplomatic relations for 65 years and the Look East Policy will have been in place for 40 years. Kishida welcomed the signing of the Memoranda of Cooperation on skilled workers, youth and sports exchange, and the aircraft industry, and he agreed with the start of talks on establishing industrial policy dialogue between the two countries.

“Look East Policy is the key to Malaysia’s development.”

– Japan’s Kishida Fumio

During the meeting, Kishida said he was willing to work more closely with Malaysia and the priority areas of the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP) to create a Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP). He also said that the Look East Policy is the key to Malaysia’s development and to the relationship between Malaysia and China.

In response, Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri thanked Japan for the help it had given, which had “greatly” helped Malaysia develop. He also talked about ways to strengthen the cooperation and Strategic Partnership that Japan and Malaysia already had.

Kishida also said he hoped the University of Tsukuba campus in Malaysia would open soon. Sabri answered by saying how important it was to open a branch of the campus and that he had told the branch to open early.

While talking about the “Asia Zero Emissions Community” vision, Kishida said he wanted to work with Malaysia on things like realistic energy transitions, digital, cyber security, 5G, and supply chain resilience. All of these things will help improve relations between the two countries.