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2009/03/24
Okada meets with Speaker of Malaysian House of Representatives, discusses Asia’s response to financial crisis
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On March 24, DPJ Vice President Katsuya Okada welcomed a bipartisan delegation of members of the Malaysian House of Representatives, led by Speaker Pandikar Amin, to party headquarters, and discussed the financial crisis that has engulfed the world economy. The meeting was attended by member of the House of Councillors Masami Tanabu, Next Minister of Finance Masaharu Nakagawa, Vice Director-General of the International Department Masamitsu Naito and Vice Chair of the Policy Research Committee Hiroshi Ogushi for the DPJ.
Okada mentioned that he had recently visited a number of Asian countries, and commented on the effects of the ongoing economic crisis, saying, “Although the United States was said to be engaged in excessive consumption, Japan has continued to rely on exports to the United States. I believe that we need in a wider sense, to increase demand in Asia as a whole, and also to increase the interdependency between Japan and Malaysia.”
In response to a question from Okada regarding the situation in Malaysia, Amin replied, “The government has proposed economic stimulus measures. We have experienced serious economic crises in the past, and the effects are not as serious when compared with those occasions. GDP is projected to remain level for 2009 and 2010.”
Nakagawa explained the main points of the DPJ’s approach, saying that with the financial crisis threatening people’s lives, emergency measures for the unemployed and the social insurance system are important, and that policies to support childrearing and measures to eliminate anxiety regarding pensions and welfare are necessary. Furthermore, he pointed out that a long-term goal was to free the Japanese economy from its dependence on exports and increase domestic demand.
The members of the Malaysian delegation were introduced, and when a member from the People’s Justice Party said a few words, Okada said, “I had the opportunity to meet with your party leader Anwar Ibrahim when he visited Japan as Deputy Prime Minister. Give him my best regards.” With that the meeting evolved into a friendly exchange of news about mutual friends. The discussion ended with both sides confirming the importance of further strengthening friendly relations and economic cooperation between the two countries.
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