NAJIB's VISIT TO JAPAN: STRENGTHENING THE RELATIONSHIP OF "TWO OLD FRIENDS"

By Khairdzir Yunus

TOKYO, April 21 (Bernama) -- When Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak
talked about Malaysia and Japan, he aptly described them as "two old friends".

He said the relationship between them was an enduring one, predicated upon a
common and mutual worldview, and not a relationship of fair weather friends.

"It is one that has withstood the test of time over the years as both
nations work on possibilities rather than being fixated by the past," he said of
Malaysia-Japan relations when accepting an honorary doctorate from Meiji
University here Tuesday.

And when Najib and his wife, Rosmah Mansor, came to visit this
'Land of the Rising Sun' on April 18-20 -- his first official visit since he
became the sixth Prime Minister of Malaysia in April last year -- it was evident
that the warm ties that existed between the "two old friends" would be further
strengthened and expanded.

When he met some 300 Malaysian students and Malaysians residing in Japan at
a dinner held at a leading hotel here Tuesday night, Najib said he felt greatly
honoured when he, along with his delegation, was given a very special treatment
by the Japanese government.


"I was invited by the Prime Minister of Japan, Yukio Hatoyama, to come for
an official visit, but this is definitely not a working visit, not even an
official visit, as the status of my visit has been upgraded and can be said to
have fulfilled all the requirements of a state visit," he said, to the applause
of those present.

Najib said he was accorded a very rare opportunity to stay at the Akasaka
Palace, the State Guest House, for the few days that he was in Tokyo, as the
palace was usually reserved for dignitiries of a certain standing.

"When I read the Visitors' Book, I saw that the list of people who have
stayed there consists of really special people."

But the great honour accorded to him was not his personal honour alone, but
was also for Malaysia for being a successful country and earning the respect of
other nations, he said.

In fact, he told the students, Malaysia had long been inspired by Japan's
past struggle for success and impressed by the resilience and determination of
the Japanese people, rising from ashes of the Second World War to become one of
the most powerful global economies.

Najib also advised Malaysian students in Japan -- there are 2,395 of them
currently studying in various fields at universities all over Japan -- to not
only look but observe the many positive values of the Japanese people that had
turned them into such a great nation, so that these values could be emulated
back home to propel the country to become a high-income and developed nation.

While in Tokyo, the prime minister and his wife had an audience with Emperor
Akihito and Empress Michiko at the Imperial Palace on Monday.

Najib also had a fruitful bilateral meeting with Hatoyama after which both
leaders announced the intitiative called the "Japan-Malaysia Cooperation
Initiative for Environment and Energy" to further advance cooperation in the
areas of environment and energy between both countries.

Other highlights of his visit were his meetings with the Japanese business
community and captains of industry, attended by many of the "big names" in the
corporate world and major Japanese corporations.

Among them were Chairman, Japan Foreign Trade Council, Chairman and Member
of the Board Marubeni Corporation Nobuo Katsumata; Vice Chairman, KEIDANREN,
President of Japan Malaysia Economic Association (JAMECA), Chairman of the
Board, Mitsubishi Corporation Mikio Sasaki;

Special Advisor, Japan Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Advisor, Honda
Motor Co., Ltd. Hiroyuki Yoshino; Vice Chairman, KEIZAI DOYUKAI, Councilor &
Senior Adviser, Komatsu Ltd. Toshitaka Hagiwara; Chairman, Bank of
Tokyo-Mitsubishi Nobuo Kuroyanagi, and President, Fuji Electric Holdings Co,
Ltd. Michihiro Kitazawa.

In fact, the business luncheon with Najib, organised by five major
economic
organisations of Japan -- the Business Federation of Japan (KEIDANREN), Japan
Foreign Trade Council (JFTC), Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI),
Economic Community Association (KEIZAI DOYUKAI) and Japan Malaysia Economic
Association (JAMECA) -- and a closed-door roundtable meeting with Japanese
captains of industry, were all well-attended, showing their great interest in
the many reform and transformation programmes being undertaken by Malaysia that
Najib was "selling" to the Japanese business and industry leaders, as well as
Japanese investors.

When met by reporters Tuesday last night, Malaysia Japan Economic
Association (Majeca) chairman and AmBank Group Azman Hashim chairman,
who co-chaired the Roundtable Meeting with the President of Japan Malaysia
Economic Associatin (JAMECA) Mikio Sasaki, said the d iscussions had been good
and attended by senior Japanese businessmen.

"They have asked relevant questions regarding the New Economic Model, the
new technology (that Malaysia is interested in, like) solar energy, power,
water," said Azman.

He said they were also very keen to look at how they could participate in
the NEM, explained to them by the prime minister himself.

"We are hoping that this would be a precursor to a bigger dialogue, hoping
that there will be follow-ups by these Japanese companies," he said.

Najib told a news conference at the end of his visit last night that he was
satisfied with the outcome of his first official visit to Japan.

He said both leaders had affirmed their commitments to further strengthen
and expand bilateral relations between Malaysia and Japan as well as expanded
its direction, especially in the aspect of trade and investment which were the
pillar of the bilateral relations.

Najib had also expressed Malaysia's appreciation for the Japanese
government's contribution to Malaysia's economic growth all this while.

He said that from his meeting with Japan's business leaders and captains of
industry, he found them to be interested in Malaysia's transformation efforts
such as the liberalisation policy in the service sector and the New Economic
Model which provided more opportunities for Japanese companies to invest or to
increase investment in Malaysia, especially in new areas such as Islamic
finance, green technology and biotechnology.

The announcement by both leaders on the enhancement of the 28-year-old "Look
East Policy" through the establishment of a joint higher education centre as a
symbol of the close relations between Malaysia and Japan was certainly most
welcome as the policy had contributed a lot to human capital development in
Malaysia.

Najib had extended his formal invitation for Hatoyama to visit Malaysia,
which the latter accepted and stated that he would like to visit Malaysia in the
near future.

-- BERNAMA



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