He said the Japanese prime minister sent a “clear-cut” message that the government and private sector should consider the request by Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
Mahathir had made the request to his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe during his visit to Japan last week.
“While I was in Tokyo, after Mahathir’s working visit, I met the president of several banking institutions. Their response was very positive. The Japan International Corporation Agency (JICA) is also considering it (the proposal).
“I am looking forward to the positive response,” he said after a courtesy call on Deputy Prime Minister Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail here today.
It was recently revealed that the federal debt had reached RM1 trillion and the current administration was finding ways to reduce it.
The prime minister said if the yen credit was extended as a soft loan, it would help the country deal with its debt problem.
During the 1997 financial crisis, Malaysia obtained a soft loan from Japan with an interest rate of just 0.7%, repayable over 40 years.
On the bilateral trade between Malaysia and Japan, Miyagawa was confident the new government would boost Japanese investors’ confidence.
Japanese investors would be very happy to work and further strengthen the industrial trade and investment cooperation with Malaysia, he said.
“For the last three to four years, industries have been hesitating to invest in Malaysia due to the political turbulence in the country. This has reduced the amount of trade between both nations.
“However, the new administration has already proven they are transparent and will practice good governance which I think will give new positive light to their engagement. Naturally, trade will increase,” he said.
Mahathir had also proposed that Japan establish a presence in the Malaysian higher education landscape by setting up a branch university campus here.
Miyagawa said Abe had instructed him to find a good university in line with plans to set up a campus in Kuala Lumpur.
“I have found and vetted several universities. We are now trying to meet the request as soon as possible,” he said.
Miyagawa also added that Malaysians were welcome to work in Japan or in Japanese companies based in Malaysia.
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