Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on July 25 began a two-day officialvisit to Malaysia to further enhance bilateral relations between the twocountries.

After the state welcome ceremony, PM Abeheld talks with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak to discussbilateral, regional and international issues of mutual concern,including the Look East Policy.

Speaking at thejoint press conference, PM Najib said Malaysia and Japan haveagreed on strengthening the second wave of the "Look East Policy", whichwould not be limited to training and education, but should be moreforward-looking with better focus and more economic-oriented.

Both governments pledged to encourage further partnerships betweenMalaysian companies and multinational corporations and small and mediumenterprises (SMEs) in the areas of green technology and renewableenergy.

The other areas include key technicalservices, institutional support and other high valued-added sectors topromote Malaysia as an investment hub within the region and tocultivate research and development and commercialisation among MalaysianSMEs aided by their Japanese counterparts.

For hispart, PM Abe affirmed the Japanese government’s commitment towards thesecond wave of the Look East Policy to further strengthen bilateralrelationship between both countries.

He said the twosides will promote cooperation in infrastructure to boost the growth ofMalaysia and agreed to make use of Japan ’s high technologyexpertise especially in high-speed train and water and energy system inMalaysia .

Both sides recognised the need toestablish a large-scale research or academic joint programme betweenMalaysia-Japan Institute of Technology (MJIT) and major Japanesecompanies and industries in the area of higher or advance technology.

In addition, PM Najib said the two leaders alsodiscussed maritime and defence security, tourism and youth exchanges aswell as regional and international issues.-VNA