Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and his Japanese counterpart, Shigeru Ishiba, discussed various initiatives in the education sector, including establishing a branch campus of Japan’s Tsukuba University in Malaysia, Bernama reported.
Other collaborations include partnerships between Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM) and Waseda University, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) and Japan International Institute of Technology (JIIT).
“Keio University, which is an important university, was his (Shigeru Ishiba) university with which I had a good engagement.
“So, I am now appealing to him to make sure that Keio University participates in some of our programmes, including in terms of civilisational dialogue because there is an interest to engage between Islam and Taoism,” he said during a joint press conference with his Japanese counterpart following their bilateral meeting today.
These educational initiatives are part of broader efforts to strengthen Malaysia-Japan relations through greater cooperation in trade, investment and clean energy.
Anwar emphasised the importance of the meeting, noting Malaysia’s distinction as the first country visited by Ishiba since his appointment.
“This bilateral meeting is one of the most extensive I’ve experienced, underscoring the seriousness with which Prime Minister Ishiba views Malaysia as a key partner. It is a testament to our shared commitment to collaborate on a number of critical issues,” Anwar said.
The discussions covered a broad range of areas, with trade and investment taking centre stage.
Energy and sustainability were also highlighted as Anwar acknowledged the longstanding partnership between Petronas and Japan in liquefied natural gas (LNG) trade.
Japan is a key economic partner for Malaysia, with a total of 2,821 manufacturing projects involving Japanese participation implemented in Malaysia as of June 2024.
These projects represent investments worth RM105.2 billion, generating employment for 344,996 people.
Japan is the fourth-largest foreign investor in Malaysia’s manufacturing sector and is the country’s fourth-largest trading partner, with total trade valued at RM156.75 billion in 2023.
Anwar hoped the clean hydrogen energy collaboration project between Petronas and Petroleum Sarawak Bhd (Petros) could be facilitated by May this year.
Petros, Petronas subsidiary CCS Ventures Sdn Bhd and Japanese consortium parties, comprising Japan Petroleum Exploration Co Ltd, JGC Holdings Corporation and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd, signed a storage site agreement (SSA) for the M3 depleted field offshore Sarawak on Feb 26, 2024.
The SSA not only enables feasibility studies for carbon dioxide storage sites starting with the M3 depleted field (M3 CCS Project), but also the planning of the carbon dioxide storage site development. This includes onshore terminals and transportation pipelines, as well as assessment of its techno-commercial feasibility.