Japan PM to visit Malaysia Thursday

Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is to make a two-day official visit to Malaysia beginning Thursday in conjunction with his tour of Southeast Asia which also includes Singapore and the Philippines. The Malaysian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Abe was scheduled to hold talks with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak on bilateral, regional and international issues. This second visit of Abe to Malaysia is seen as strengthening bilateral ties and stepping up cooperation towards enabling Malaysia achieve its vision of becoming a high-income nation by 2020. Japan is one of Malaysia’s major trading partners in the East Asian region, second after China, and third in the world, with total trade to the tune of RM145.32 billion in 2012. In terms of investment, Japan was the biggest foreign investor from 1980 to 2012, with the value of investments touching US$22 billion that created more than 300,000 jobs.