JICA Alumni Society Of Malaysia

From The Star 25 August 2007

The Look East policy has played an important role in the country’s economic development and Malaysia highly appreciated Japan’s cooperation, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said in a joint statement with Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe in Putrajaya on Friday.

PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia will continue with the Look East policy, which has proven to be a success since it started 25 years ago, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

The policy has played an important role in the country’s economic development and Malaysia highly appreciated Japan’s cooperation, he said in a joint statement with Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe here yesterday.

Abe arrived here on Thursday night for a three-day visit in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the two countries’ diplomatic relations.

It is his first official visit to Malaysia and part of an Asian tour that earlier took him to Indonesia and India.

Red-carpet welcome: Abdullah accompanying Abe at Dataran Perdana Friday. Behind them are their wives, Datin Seri Jeanne and Akie. — ROHAIZAT MD DARUS / The Star
Abe was accorded an official welcome at Dataran Perdana before calling on Abdullah at the Prime Minister’s office, where they later adjourned for a Malaysia-Japan delegation meeting.

This was followed by the signing of the joint statement.

Abe congratulated Malaysia on the 25 years of the Look East policy and expressed his respect for the country sending 11,000 students and trainees to Japan since 1982.

Speaking to reporters later, Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar said issues in the joint statement serve as a plan for Malaysia and Japan to improve economic, trade and investment ties between them.

He said Abdullah encouraged Japanese companies to invest in the Iskandar Development Region as well as in the other development corridors in the northern and eastern regions of the peninsula and in Sabah and Sarawak.

The joint statement also contained Malaysia’s support for Japan’s initiative to halve global emissions by 2050, as proposed in Abe’s Cool Earth 50 plan, which he unveiled in May.

The plan is to stabilise atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases and calls for a framework for addressing climate change beyond 2012.

Abdullah and Abe also agreed that it was important to conserve biodiversity and promote sustainable forest management in Malaysia, and to preserved the country’s world-class tropical forest and biodiversity.

Abe appreciated Malaysia’s role in countering terrorism as reflected in the agreement to co-host the second Asean-Japan Counter Terrorism Dialogue, scheduled to be held here next month.