TOKYO: Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s working visit to Tokyo, beginning today, is a clear reflection of Malaysia’s priority in deepening bilateral ties particularly in trade and investment with Japan.
The five-day working visit, which is Ahmad Zahid’s first trip to ‘the land of the rising sun’ as Deputy Prime Minister, is all the more timely given the fierce competition globally for both markets and investments.
Therefore, it is important to continue to engage Tokyo consistently to ensure Japan continues to remain among Malaysia’s top trading partners and foreign direct investors.
The statistics speaks for themselves.
Japan was Malaysia’s fourth largest trading partner after China, Singapore and the United States last year, with bilateral trade amounting to RM127.40 billion which accounted for 8.72 per cent of Malaysia’s total trade.
In 2015, Japan was also Malaysia’s third largest export destination and the fourth largest source of imports.
Total exports to Japan amounted to RM73.81 billion while imports totalled RM53.59 billion.
As for Japan, Malaysia is its ninth largest trading partner, 11th largest export destination and eighth largest source of import.
From 2009 to 2015, a total of 355 manufacturing projects with Japanese participation were implemented in Malaysia with total investments of RM33.06 billion and generated employment for 39,959 people.
Japan was also Malaysia’s top foreign investor in 2014, which speaks volumes of the strong bilateral linkages since both countries established diplomatic relations in 1957. — Bernama