Investment, trade and industry minister Johari Ghani said Japanese officials are pleased to hear that Malaysia is keen on strengthening trade ties with Tokyo.
TOKYO: Several major Japanese companies have expressed interest in continuing to invest in Malaysia as they view the country as a reliable partner, investment, trade and industry minister Johari Ghani said today.
Johari said this followed meetings between a Malaysian delegation and key industry players in Japan during Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s official visit to the country.
“In our meetings with industry players in Japan, we found that the majority of them are looking forward to continuing their investments in Malaysia,” he told reporters at a press conference here today.
He said Japanese officials were also pleased to hear that Malaysia intended to continue strengthening its trade ties with Japan.
“We want to trade with everyone as long as it is mutually beneficial. We are not focussing only on one or two partners,” he said.
Johari said several issues were raised by Japanese companies during the meetings, although these were mostly technical and operational in nature.
He said he would personally look into the issues raised by the companies.
The other areas discussed included sustainable aviation fuel, semiconductors, and electrical and electronics investments.
Earlier, Anwar said he, Johari and entrepreneur and cooperatives development minister Steven Sim had taken the opportunity to meet major Japanese companies individually.
He named Mitsubishi Corp, Denso, and Marubeni as among the companies they engaged during the visit, noting that several of them had long-standing ties with Malaysia.
Anwar said the visit was aimed at strengthening bilateral cooperation with Japan, particularly in trade, investment and advanced technology.
Japan emerged as Malaysia’s largest foreign investor in the first quarter of 2026, contributing RM21.5 billion out of a total of RM92.8 billion in approved investments, according to the Malaysia Investment Development Authority (Mida).
This was followed by China and the US with RM10.1 billion each, Singapore (RM6.7 billion) and Thailand (RM2.5 billion).
In a statement on Monday, Mida said 93.6% of Japanese investments approved during the first quarter were channelled into digital transformation activities, reinforcing Malaysia’s position in high-technology and digital supply chains.