The original of this article was written in Japanese and can be found here.

As we welcome the New Year of Reiwa 7 (2025), we sincerely wish you all the best in health and well-being.

Over the past year, active exchanges took place between Japan and Malaysia. On November 15, 2024, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who was visiting the Republic of Peru to attend the APEC Summit, held a summit meeting with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

Prime Minister Ishiba stated: “We wish to support Malaysia as the 2025 Chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and work closely together across a wide range of fields. We place great importance on our partnership with Malaysia, and we welcome the expansion of our cooperation into the security field. We also wish to advance concrete cooperation in maritime security and energy transition initiatives.”

Prime Minister Anwar responded: “We attach great importance to our partnership with Japan, which has long been a vital partner, and wish to continue working closely together. We hope to further strengthen our cooperation with Japan across a wide range of fields, starting with the security domain.”

The two leaders also exchanged views on advancing Japan-ASEAN cooperation as well as on various regional and international challenges, and agreed to work together in addressing these issues.

We are confident that the people of Malaysia, with their multi-ethnic society, will unite in solidarity, and that Malaysia will continue to grow as an ever more prosperous and stable nation. As a country that plays an important role within ASEAN and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, Malaysia is a key partner in the East Asian region, and we believe that maintaining and strengthening the friendly relations between Japan and Malaysia will contribute to regional stability.

The Japan Malaysia Association will likewise continue to undertake a wide range of activities to contribute to promoting broad exchanges between our two countries.

In Malaysia, our tropical rainforest restoration activities in the State of Sarawak on the island of Borneo will mark their 30th year in 2025. We will continue to work in collaboration with state government agencies and local communities to advance these activities. In the same state, we are also carrying out water environment improvement projects aimed at enhancing residents’ livelihoods, thereby contributing to the local community.

In addition, in the states of Kedah and Penang on the Malay Peninsula, we will continue mangrove forest restoration activities and regional educational support initiatives in cooperation with local universities and schools.

Within Japan, we will promote tourism and educational exchange, support the publication and translation of books related to Malaysia, and—with your continued understanding and cooperation—carry forward our public interest activities as a leading body for people-to-people exchange between Japan and Malaysia.

We sincerely hope that our two countries will continue to walk hand in hand as good partners, contributing to peace and prosperity around the world. All of us at the Japan Malaysia Association will make our utmost efforts to further strengthen the friendly relations between our two nations.

We respectfully ask for your continued support and guidance.