KUALA LUMPUR – Many Japanese food-producing companies are seeking halal certification from Malaysia’s Islamic Development Department (Jakim) for their products, Japan’s ambassador to Malaysia, Oka Hiroshi, said.
He said these companies are also keen on making Malaysia their entry point to market their halal products to other destinations.
“Once they get halal certification from Jakim, they hope to start exporting and make Malaysia as the entry point for their halal products to other markets,” he said during a courtesy visit to Bernama’s headquarters here today.
Oka added that Japan is also interested in exploring new areas of trade cooperation with Malaysia, including in medical devices and technology.
He said that Japan is currently working with Malaysia's Health Ministry in combating the Covid-19 pandemic, especially in medical devices, and in providing assistance and support for the cold chain system to transport vaccines.
On the renowned Tsukuba University setting up its first overseas campus here in Malaysia, the ambassador said the plan is on track and the campus is expected to be opened in 2023 with enrolment to begin next year.
He said this project will be a milestone symbolising future cooperation between Malaysia and Japan as both nations celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Look East Policy next year.
On another matter, he said the embassy has been looking forward to promoting people-to-people relations between both countries through arts and culture and tourism among others.
“We hope to get more Malaysians, especially the younger generation, to get interested with anything Japanese, such as animation, tourism, and education. I think that is a great starting point to get our people to know each other better,” he said.
He said that there is a strong footprint of Malaysia-Japan relations everywhere in Malaysia built based on mutual trust and confidence among the people of both countries in various fields. – Bernama, April 12, 2021
