KUALA LUMPUR, May 26 — Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz will lead a trade and investment mission to Japan from May 29 to June 3, 2023, to strengthen existing trade, industrial and investment ties between both countries.
The mission will cover Tokyo and Osaka and will comprise senior officials from the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (Miti), the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida), and the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade).
In a statement today, Miti said trade and Investment missions are its flagship programme, which also reflects its leading function as the ministry responsible for promoting trade as well as attracting foreign investment and encouraging local investment.
Japan has been an important trading partner and a major source of foreign direct investment (FDI) for Malaysia for decades.
“This mission is expected to further solidify the partnership between both countries in line with the elevation of the Malaysia-Japan bilateral relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership last year,” Miti said.
This mission will focus on strategic high-end and high value-added technology in electrical and electronics (E&E), chemical and chemical products and electric vehicles, with environmental, social and governance (ESG) as the underlying theme.
To that end, Tengku Zafrul and his delegation will meet with prominent Japanese industry players in these sectors, who have indicated their keen interest to invest and expand their businesses in Malaysia.
Visits to facilities of new emerging technologies for the manufacturing sector in the automotive, E&E as well as carbon capture storage are also part of the programme.
Tengku Zafrul is also scheduled to have a bilateral meeting with Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Nishimura Yasutoshi to discuss bilateral issues as well as economic cooperation through various international platforms, notably the Japan-Malaysia Public-Private Industrial Policy Dialogue, the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).
In 2022, Japan was the fourth largest trading partner for Malaysia with total trade amounting to US$41.21 billion (RM181.50 billion) compared to US$36.41 billion (RM149.76 billion) in 2021.
Malaysia – Japan total trade for 2022 had increased by 21.2 per cent year-on-year.
Malaysia’s major exports to Japan in 2022 were liquified natural gas, E&E products, crude petroleum, palm oil and palm oil-based agriculture products and chemical and chemical products; while Malaysia’s major imports from Japan in 2022 were E&E products, machinery, equipment & parts, manufacture of metal, chemical and chemical products, and transport equipment.
In terms of investment, Japan has been one of Malaysia’s top sources of FDIs for the manufacturing sector.
As of 2022, a total of 2,746 manufacturing projects with Japanese participation had been implemented.
“These projects have generated a positive spill-over impact for the domestic small and medium enterprises supply chain and provided employment for 336,326 people,” Miti said.
The ministry also added that Japan ranked as the fourth largest foreign investor in terms of implemented manufacturing projects.
Most of these investments were in E&E products, chemicals and chemical products, non-metallic mineral products, transport equipment and petroleum products.
— Bernama
