Awakening???, page-51

To be fair I'm always willing to help aus:
(this hands down out does China ATM)

The economic field was a particular area of focus. Describing Japan as Malaysia’s biggest investor country, Abe highlighted that some 1,400 Japanese companies operated businesses in Malaysia, providing jobs for 340,000 people. Mahathir said during a separate meeting with business leaders that his government would work to reduce “too many bureaucratic hindrances or procedures that would deter foreign investors.” (Japan’s ambassador to Malaysia, Makio Miyagawa, predicted this week that trade and investment would increase as Japanese companies were encouraged by the greater political stability and transparency under the new government.)

The request for soft loans fits in with Mahathir’s desire to address Malaysia’s debt levels. It also comes amid the new government’s review of China-backed projects in the country. In Tokyo, the day before the summit meeting, Mahathir explained his approach this way: “We will be friendly with China, but we do not want to be indebted to China.” Mahathir told reporters after the summit meeting that he had raised the matter with Abe, who had agreed to consider the loan request. Mahathir noted that during his first stint as prime minister, Japan had extended Malaysia a loan with an interest rate of 0.7 percent with a 40-year repayment period. He said at a press briefing that “perhaps we will retire some of the high-cost borrowings that we have and replace them with the yen credit.”