PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia’s strong bilateral ties with Japan will be brought to a higher level in accordance with Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s policy on the importance of Malaysia’s relationship with Japan and the Look East Policy 2.0, said Foreign Minister, Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah.
“The Prime Minister told the Cabinet recently that his latest trip to Fukuoka, Japan, was very fruitful,” he said at the presentation of a RM500,000 cheque for the flood and heat wave victims in Japan to the Ambassador of Japan to Malaysia, Dr Makio Miyagawa, at Wisma Putra here yesterday.
Dr Mahathir has visited Japan twice, with the latest being early this month, after he was sworn in as the seventh Prime Minister of Malaysia on May 10.
Saifuddin said the aid handed over yesterday reflected the solidarity and sympathy of Malaysians for the victims of the disasters in the Land of the Rising Sun. So far, more than 100 people were killed and tens of thousands were rushed to hospitals due to heat stroke when a heat wave hit the country at the end of last month.
Before the heat wave set in, heavy downpours from June to mid-July caused flooding and mudflows in southwestern Japan, leaving 225 people dead.- Bernama
