Msia-Japan Trade To Touch US$48.08 Billion This Year

KUALA LUMPUR, May 22 (Bernama) -- Bilateral trade between Malaysia and Japan is expected to touch a whopping RM150 billion (US$48.08 billion) this year as the land of the rising sun continues to source its major raw materials and commodities from Malaysia for its ongoing restructuring efforts, says envoy Shigeru Nakamura. Japan is in excessive need of natural resources to rebuild the areas affected by last year's devastating earthquake and Tsunami. Judging from the total trade of RM37.7 billion (US$12.09 billion) clinched between January and March, Nakamura was confident the forecast could be reached. "The first three-months shows that we are on track and we should reach the RM150 billion (US$48.08 billion) mark," the Japanese ambassador told reporters at a media briefing. Nakamura said Malaysia's exports registered RM22.3 billion (US$7.15 billion) while imports from Japan stood at RM15.3 billion (US$4.9 billion) in the first three months of the year. Trade, which stood at RM145.3 billion (US$46.55 billion) last year, was expected to be driven this year by the import of oil and gas, palm oil and natural resources. He added that Japan's proposed negotiations to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership would pave the way for improved trade and investment between both countries, just like the Asean-Japan Free Trade Agreement which benefited Japan and Malaysia. Last year, Malaysia exported goods and services worth RM80 billion (US$25.62 billion) to Japan and imported RM65.3 billion (US$20.93 billion) worth of products and services. Meanwhile, Japan retained its position as the number one investor in Malaysia with total investments of RM10.10 billion (US$3.24 billion) last year. Nakamura said Japan aimed to maintain the spot this year as it expected more investments to flow into Malaysia's services sector and non-traditional markets. "As in previous years, Japanese investments were mainly in the manufacturing sector, but this year we find more potential investments coming into the services sector. "We have several Japanese banks registering for operating licence here and also some mini-store operators who have expressed intention to open stores in Malaysia. "We would like to see more Japanese investments in Malaysia's services sector," the envoy added. Nakamura said the electrical and electronics, and automotive and solar energy sectors would remain the frontier of new investments. He said Japanese investments have increased employment opportunities among the locals which was in-line with the government's initiative to transform Malaysia into a high-income economy. "To-date there are some 1,400 Japanese companies operating here and it has benefited more than 400,000 Malaysians," he said. Among the prominent Japanese companies with a long-standing presence in Malaysia include Panasonic (electrical products manufacturer), UMW Toyota and Honda (automobile manufacturers), Kawasaki Heavy Industries, AEON (Jusco operator) and Tokyo Marine (insurance provider). -- BERNAMA