Malaysia-Japan trade hits RM137.45 bln last year

Out of this, exports totalled RM82.71 billion (US$25.6 billion), a growth of 4.4 per cent while imports contracted 2.9 per cent to RM54.75 billion (US$16.74 billion).

Malaysian Ambassador to Japan Datuk Ahmad Izlan Idris said the main exports from Malaysia to Japan were liquefied natural gas (LNG), electrical and electonics as well as chemical-based products.

He said Malaysia's main imports from Japan were electrical and electronics, machines and equipment as well as spare parts and accessories for vehicles and cars.

"Japan is the country's third largest trading partner after China and Singapore," he said to Malaysian reporters here.

Ahmad Izlan said in terms of investment, Japan was among the biggest foreign investors in Malaysia whereby up to Dec 31, 2013, some 2,510 investment projects by Japanese companies were implemented with total investments of US$22.7 billion.

"These investments had created a total of 332,352 job opportunities in Malaysia," he said.

Meanwhile, for the January to September 2014 period, some 47 projects involving Japanese companies were approved with investments of RM10.65 billion (US$3.26 billion).

These projects were expected to create 6,874 job opportunities in Malaysia, he said.

Ahmad Izlan said to date there are 1,400 Japanese companies operating in Malaysia.

"The potential sectors for Japanese investors in Malaysia are green technology, high-technology industries, biotechnology, advanced electronics and automotive industries," he said.

On tourism sector, he said Japan was one of the tourist markets for Malaysia, with 553,106 Japanese tourists who visited Malaysia in 2014.

"Tourism Malaysia targets 600,000 tourists from Japan to visit Malaysia this year. As for Malaysian tourists to Japan, it totalled 251,000 last year," he said.

He said Malaysia and Japan have very strong ties especially in trade, investment and tourism.