Malaysian Prime Minister's Visit to Japan

PM Dato' Sri Najib Razak visited Japan had an official visit to Japan from April 18 to 20. In this first official visit, since becoming the 6th Malaysian Prime Minister, PM Dato' Sri Najib Razak and Datin Sri Rosmah Mansor were received in audience by Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress of Japan.

In addition, PM hold official meetings with Japanese PM Yukio Hatoyama. The Summit Meeting between the two leaders concluded with a joint-statement for Malaysia-Japan's "Enhanced Partnership for a New Frontier," which lays out the following 4 key areas of cooperation.

• Cooperation for Peace and Security;
• Cooperation for Strengthening Competitiveness and Sustainable Growth;
• Cooperation for Contribution in the Areas of Environment and Energy;
• Cooperation for Human Resources Development and People to People Exchange.

Both leaders also concluded an agreement on "Japan-Malaysia Cooperation Initiative on Environment and Energy."

Japan's interest in Malaysia has declined substantially during the premiership of Abdullah Badawi in the past few years because of his weak leadership and incapability to articulate partnership with Japan.

But, PM Dato's Sri Najib Razak's visit to Japan has rekindled a renewed Malaysia-Japan relation, whereby "Look East Policy" has been one of the key pillars. At the same time it has also initiated new partnership for a forward looking cooperation beyond bilateral relations. From now on, the focus is to transform various initiatives into specific actions.