Japan sees Malaysia as key Asean partner in advancing clean energy

New Straits Times

10-05-2025

KUALA LUMPUR: Japan regards Malaysia as playing a crucial role in advancing clean energy cooperation in Southeast Asia, particularly in its role as this year's Asean Chair and co-host of the Asia Zero Emissions Community (AZEC) ministerial meeting.
Former Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Malaysia's leadership comes at a pivotal time for regional decarbonisation efforts, with numerous AZEC-related projects already in progress.
"As this year's Asean Chair and co-host country of the AZEC ministerial meeting, Malaysia plays a crucial role in advancing various decarbonisation projects across the region," he said.
Kishida, who was on a two-day working visit to Malaysia, is also the Supreme Adviser to the Parliamentary Association of AZEC.
He said that current AZEC initiatives span areas such as power transmission, distribution, and renewable energy, which are expected to align closely with Asean's clean energy efforts.
"We expect these efforts to create strong synergies with Asean initiatives, including the Asean Power Grid concept," he added.
AZEC is a Japan-led initiative launched in 2022 to promote decarbonisation across Asia through regional collaboration, technology transfer and public-private partnerships.
The initiative aims to balance climate action with sustainable economic growth, particularly in emerging economies.
Kishida, who is also the Special Envoy of the Japanese Prime Minister, said Tokyo sees Malaysia as a "very reliable partner" that has taken active steps towards its energy transition, inspired partly by AZEC.
"I see great potential for collaboration between our two countries in advancing decarbonisation," he said, noting that ongoing cooperation covers projects in carbon capture and storage (CCS), ammonia, sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), and power grid development.
"During this visit, I strongly felt both the diversity of needs related to decarbonisation in the Southeast Asian region and the high expectations placed on Japan, as many projects are already underway," he said.
Kishida noted that site visits and engagement with businesses had reinforced the importance of the government taking the lead in building effective partnerships with regional counterparts.
He also emphasised the growing role of Japan's AZEC Parliamentary League in promoting the initiative from a legislative perspective.
"As a parliamentary group, we hope to contribute to the promotion of AZEC from a uniquely parliamentary perspective by leveraging each member's broad network and facilitating dialogue with partner countries, businesses and other stakeholders," he said.
Looking ahead to upcoming ministerial and summit-level meetings, Kishida added that the group intends to submit formal recommendations to the Japanese government based on the outcomes of this visit to support AZEC's progress further.