International cooperation between Malaysia and Japan has a track record of more than 60 years, beginning with the acceptance of technical training participants from the then Federation of Malaya to Japan in 1956.
JICA opened its office in Kuala Lumpur in 1975 as an implementing agency of Japan's Official Development Assistance (ODA). We are responsible for providing scholarships and implementing training in Japan under "Look East Policy", human resource development in the fields such as maritime security and environment through technical cooperation, infrastructure development through financial cooperation as represented by the Kuala Lumpur New International Airport and the Malaysia-Japan International Institute of Technology (MJIIT), grassroots activities through the Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (JOCV), and other activities. As of March 2021, the number of technical training participants (including JICA scholars) accepted through JICA was 18,813, and the number of dispatched experts and volunteers to Malaysia were 4,465 and 1,563 respectively. In addition, JICA had provided a cumulative total of 923.8 billion yen in ODA loans.
Malaysia's booming economy and society were severely damaged by the COVID-19 pandemic but are becoming vibrant again in 2023. The Malaysian government announced "Shared Prosperity Vision 2030" in 2019, which aims to achieve sustainable growth along with fair and equitable distribution, across income groups, ethnicities, regions, and supply chains. Based on this growth strategy and the Japanese government's development cooperation policy, JICA focuses on three priority areas: 1) Supporting a balanced development toward Malaysia becoming a high-income nation, 2) Response to common issues in East Asian region, and 3) Strengthening the Japan-Malaysia Development Partnership beyond the East Asian region.
Through past bilateral cooperation between Malaysia and Japan, a dense network of Malaysians who know Japan well and Japanese who know Malaysia well has been built, which is a great asset for both countries in promoting various cooperation and exchanges. Based on this relationship of trust, we will further strengthen our partnerships with companies, universities, research institutions, and NGOs that possess valuable technology and wisdom. We also intend to expand South-South cooperation, in which the knowledge and experience of both sides are shared with countries in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. By so doing, I would like to propose Malaysian model of international cooperation based on mutual understanding and trust.
ASEAN and Japan celebrate the 50th anniversary of their friendship and cooperation in 2023. Under JICA's vision of "Leading the World with Trust", we will strive to serve for the development of Malaysia, and as a bridge between the two countries as well as the friendly relationship between ASEAN and Japan. I would like to thank you all for your understanding and cooperation to date, and I look forward to working with you in the future as well.
May 2023
Chief Representative of
JICA Malaysia Office
SUGAWARA Minako
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