PUTRAJAYA: Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said he appreciated Japan’s consideration of Malaysia's request for soft credit assistance.
He said this yesterday during a meeting with Japan's Foreign Minister Taro Kono at Perdana Putra here.
Kono was on a two-day working visit to Malaysia.
Dr Mahathir, during his visit to Japan last month, had requested Japan to extend a yen credit to Malaysia in the form of a soft loan, and his counterpart Shinzo Abe said he would consider the request.
Part of the loan may be used to retire old loans to offset the high borrowing costs.
Wisma Putra, in a statement today in conjunction with Kono’s courtesy call, said Dr Mahathir was pleased with the outcome of his meeting with Abe on June 12 in Tokyo where both leaders agreed to rejuvenate and further enhance Malaysia’s ‘Look East’ policy which was launched in 1982.
"For more than three decades, Malaysia and Japan have benefited from this policy and it would continue to benefit both countries, especially through education and human resources development,” Wisma Putra said.
Wisma Putra said Dr Mahathir, during the meeting with Kono, reiterated his offer for Japan to open a branch of a Japanese university in Malaysia.
It said with the cooperation, students can learn the Japanese language, values and cultures which have proven to be the foundation of Japan’s success.
Foreign Ministry said Kono responded that he would work internally with Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports and Technologies on the matter.
Wisma Putra said Dr Mahathir and Kono were pleased with the current state of bilateral relations between both countries.
It said Malaysia and Japan have agreed to elevate the relationship from an enhanced partnership to a strategic partnership.
Wisma Putra added that Dr Mahathir also welcomed Japan’s readiness to send experts to Malaysia to look at ways to optimise the utilisation of the railway lines, especially the double tracking system.
"As Malaysians have gradually embraced the usage of public transport, the optimisation of the railway lines will further ease traffic congestion in the city centre,” it said.
Wisma Putra said Dr Mahathir and Kono also discussed matters related to regional developments, including issues pertaining to the situation in the Korean Peninsula.
"The Prime Minister and Kono concurred that the international community should support efforts towards the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula and, at the same time, remain committed to the implementation of sanctions under the United Nations Security Council resolutions,” it said.
On developments in the South China Sea, Dr Mahathir and Kono agreed that Asean should play a leading and active role in managing the situation and conflicts in the area.
Meanwhile, Wisma Putra said Japan had also informed that its chief negotiator for the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) would be coming to Malaysia to explain the agreement. -- BERNAMA