PM Ismail Sabri to visit Japan, enhance Look East Policy

The visit is the first for Ismail Sabri after being appointed as Malaysia's Prime Minister on Aug 21 last year.

During the visit, Ismail Sabri is scheduled to meet with his counterpart Fumio Kishida, who was appointed as the Japanese Prime Minister in October last year.

"This will be the first physical meeting between the two prime ministers," Malaysian Embassy Charge d'affaires ad interim Nor' Azam Mohd Idrus told the Malaysian media here.

He said the meeting of the two leaders would take place on Friday.

On April 20, Ismail Sabri and Kishida held a Japan-Malaysia Summit telephone talk, during which the two leaders talked about various regional and international issues.

Nor' Azam said among the matters to be discussed during the Friday meeting were the Malaysia-Japan bilateral ties, including cooperation related to the COVID-19, reopening of borders and the setting up of Tsukuba University in Malaysia.

For the record, Malaysia had reopened its international borders on April 1 this year, while Japan had yet to fully do so.

"The visit will also mark the 40th anniversary of Malaysia's Look East Policy which has brought about a huge impact in strengthening the bilateral ties between Malaysia and Japan," he said.

During the meeting, both leaders would also witness the signing of three memoranda of cooperation between Malaysia and Japan.

They are the Memorandum of Cooperation between the Government of Malaysia and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan on the Aircraft Industry; Memorandum of Cooperation on a Basic Framework for Information Partnership for Proper Operation of the System Pertaining to Foreign Human Resources with the Status of Resident of "Specified Skilled Worker"; and the Memorandum of Cooperation between the Government of Malaysia and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan on Cooperation in the Field of Youth and Sports.

Ismail Sabri is also scheduled to deliver a keynote address at Nikkei's 27th International Conference on the Future of Asia in Tokyo themed "Redefining Asia's Role in a Divided World" on Thursday.

Nor' Azam said in his keynote address, that the Prime Minister is expected to touch on efforts in enhancing regional economic integration, strengthening negotiation and cooperation mechanisms, cooperation in addressing climate change, and also share the concept of the Malaysian Family.

"His (Ismail Sabri) participation will be the platform for Malaysia to share ideas and experiences in various initiatives to determine the future direction of the Asian region," he said.

Ismail Sabri will also hold meetings with corporate leaders and businessmen from several leading companies in Japan to lure more foreign direct investment to Malaysia and strengthen the bilateral ties between Malaysia and Japan.

Among the companies are those already established themselves in Malaysia such as Mitsui Fudosan, Mitsubishi Power and Marubeni, and also those with the potential to expand their operations in Malaysia.