PUTRAJAYA, Jan 10 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today hosted an official luncheon in honour of visiting Japanese counterpart Shigeru Ishiba at Seri Perdana here.

Ishiba, his wife Yoshiko and the Japanese delegation delegation, who arrived in Malaysia yesterday for a two-day official visit, were welcomed by Anwar at the Prime Minister’s official residence at 11.50 am.

Also present were Anwar’s wife Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Dr Wan Ismail, Minister of Investment, Trade, and Industry Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz, Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan and Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin.

Earlier, Ishiba was accorded an official welcome at Perdana Putra, followed by a meeting with Anwar.

Malaysia’s ties with Japan have grown from strength to strength with the elevation of bilateral relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in December 2023.

Japan is a key economic partner for Malaysia, with a total of 2,821 manufacturing projects involving Japanese participation implemented in Malaysia as of June 2024.

These projects represent investments worth RM105.2 billion (US$30.4 billion) and have generated employment for approximately 344,996 people.

Japan is the fourth-largest foreign investor in Malaysia’s manufacturing sector and Malaysia’s fourth-largest trading partner, with total trade valued at RM156.75 billion (US$34.41 billion) in 2023. — Bernama