PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia should learn from Japan’s experience in becoming a developed country without depending on foreign workers even in regard to jobs considered dirty, dangerous and difficult, says waste management expert Dr Theng Lee Chong.

He said besides Japan, other countries that did not depend on foreign workers even as waste collectors included Hong Kong and Vietnam.

“But in Malaysia, we hardly see Malaysians collecting the waste these days. We need to change the mindset.

“Japan has clean cities without depending on foreign workers,” he said during the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)-Economic Planning Unit (EPU) 60 Years and Beyond: The Way Forward Seminar themed Development Cooperation Between Malaysia and Japan – Past Successes and Future Partnership here yesterday.

JICA is a Japanese government agency.

The seminar’s objective was to commemorate and celebrate Japan’s assistance and cooperation to Malaysia’s development over the past 60 years, and discuss avenues and options for future development cooperation between the two countries.

Meanwhile, JICA chief representative to Malaysia, Kojiro Matsumoto in his speech said, Malaysia and Japan should deepen their understanding and make bilateral relations more mature as diplomatic ties between the two countries had been maintained for the past six decades.

Japan also would like to see more Malaysian trainees visit Japan, he said.