Malaysian and Japanese Foreign Ministers at a joint press conference (Photo: Bernama) Kuala Lumpur (VNA) – Malaysia and Japan have agreed to upgradetheir strategic partnership to comprehensive strategic partnership, said MalaysianForeign Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Abdullah.
He said at a joint press conference with his Japanese counterpart Yoshimasa Hayashi on October 9 that thearea of cooperation for the upgrade needs to take into account mutual intereststo ensure continued economic growth, peace and stability as well as sustainabledevelopment, especially when Malaysia and Japan are still in the post-COVID-19recovery phase. This includes tradeand investment, digital technology, education, human resource development,renewable energy and tourism, according to the Malaysian Foreign Ministry's statement issued on October 10.
Saifuddinadded that both countries also expressed their appreciation for the commitmentshown by their respective countries in aiding the process of establishing abranch campus of the University of Tsukuba in Malaysia.
On regional and global issues, Saifuddinsaid Malaysia and Japan are greatly concerned about the developments inMyanmar, be it within bilateral Malaysia-Japan cooperation or cooperationwithin the ASEAN framework.
The Japanese FM iscurrently on a two-day visit to Malaysia to strengthen bilateral relations inconjunction with the 65th anniversary of Malaysia-Japan diplomaticrelations and the 40th anniversary of the Look East Policy.
Malaysia and Japan upgraded theirbilateral relations to a strategic partnership in 2015 when Japanese PrimeMinister Fumio Kishida visited Malaysia in his capacity as the then ForeignMinister./.
