KUALA LUMPUR: Japanese companies are still keen on doing business in Malaysia and it is hoped that the Look East Policy which enters its 40th anniversary this year, will draw more Japanese investments.

       Japanese Ambassador to Malaysia Takahashi Katsuhiko is confident of this scenario given Malaysia’s open economy that actively supports investments and international trade.

       Katsuhiko had said before arriving in Malaysia last month for his posting here, the many Japanese companies he had visited back home were interested in conducting their businesses in Malaysia.

       “Actually investment from Japan to Malaysia didn’t decrease even during the Covid-19 pandemic. I hope this year will be another better opportunity for Japanese companies to do business with Malaysia,” Bernama quoted him as saying after presenting the conferment of Japanese Decoration, The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star by the Emperor of Japan to Public Service Department (PSD) director-general Tan Sri Mohd Khairul Adib Abd Rahman here yesterday.

       In February 1982, Malaysia, under the then Prime Minister Datuk Seri (now Tun) Dr Mahathir Mohamad, introduced the Look East Policy with the objective of emulating exemplary Japanese work culture as well as technology expertise in developing the country.

       Business sentiment among Japanese companies in Malaysia is forecast to improve in the first half of 2022 based on a survey by the Japanese Chamber of Trade and Industry Malaysia.

       Meanwhile, the ambassador said the award was conferred upon Mohd Khairul Adib in recognition of his outstanding contribution to strengthening the Look East Policy through people-to-people exchange and cooperation in the field of transportation between Japan and Malaysia.

       “He also led the dispatch of experts from Japanese railway companies to KTMB in 2018 and 2019, and made efforts to promote the utilisation of services of KTMB by transferring Japanese technology and know-how to Malaysia, thereby strengthening railway cooperation between Japan and Malaysia,” he added.

       Mohd Khairul Adib in his acceptance speech said he was honoured to receive the award, saying under the Look East Policy, about 200 Malaysian government scholarship students were being sent to Japan annually.