KUALA LUMPUR: Defence ties between Malaysia and Japan should not be limited to purchases of defence equipment, says Deputy Minister of Defence Senator Liew Chin Tong.
He said there should also be cooperation in the defence industry.
“A deeper relation is necessary taking into account the availability of a civil and commercial supply network with the presence of Japanese companies in Malaysia.
“The cooperation must give focus on manufacturing activities for civil and military usage other than helping to create high and moderate skills job opportunities,” he said today.
Liew is on a four-day working visit to Tokyo, Japan, from Wednesday.
He has met the new Japanese Deputy Minister of Defence Taro Kono who was appointed on Sept 11.
Previously, Taro Kono was the Japanese foreign minister.
Both of them had visited the Rohingya Refugee Camp at Cox’s Bazaar, Bangladesh, in May and June.
They had shared the same fears about the situation at the camp and hoped that the cooperation between the two countries could contribute towards alleviating the situation there.
The working visit is Liew’s first to Japan. - Bernama