Japanese bankers are “fairly positive” towards Malaysia’s request for a soft loan denominated in Japanese currency, Japanese Ambassador to Malaysia Makio Miyagawa said today.

However, Miyagawa said, the bankers have yet to give a firm response to the request as he had only met them just a few days ago.

“Our prime minister (Shinzo Abe) sent us a very clear-cut note that the government sector and the private sector should consider it.

"I’ve met some presidents of banking institutions in Japan while I was in Tokyo after Mahathir left. The response was fairly positive.

“I think Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) will also consider it under the leadership of our prime minister.

“We have not yet received a clear-cut response from them as the request was only made three, four days ago in Tokyo, but I’m looking forward to positive responses from them,” Miyagawa told reporters in Putrajaya today.

He was speaking to reporters after making a courtesy call on Deputy Prime Minister Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail at her office this morning. 

Mahathir’s previous tenure as prime minister from 1981 and 2003 had involved large amounts of financing from Jica for various projects.

During a joint press conference with Abe on June 12, Mahathir had said he asked for “yen credit” from Japan, and that Japan would study this request. 

Miyagawa said Japan’s public and private sectors had extended soft loans to Malaysia during the 1997 Asian financial crisis as well.

“Likewise this time, Mahathir requested our prime minister to consider similar ‘yen credit’ or soft loan as to alleviate the huge debt Malaysia accumulated that was recently found,” he said.

As for Mahathir’s request for Japanese universities to set up branches in Malaysia, Miyagawa said Abe had given instructions to find good universities for Malaysia and he has already met the presidents of several universities over the matter. 

“We are now trying to meet the request as soon as possible,” he said.

He added that Japan is also offering job opportunities for those who had studied in Japan or wish to work for a Japanese company – whether in Malaysia or in Japan, and Abe had instructed various ministries to look into the matter.