SPEECH EN. HARIS HADI

DEPUTY DIRECTOR (NORTH AND EAST ASIA)

TOURISM MALAYSIA

AT THE JAPAN TOURISM AWARDS

KUALA LUMPUR

16 MARCH 2015

(Salutations)

Good evening. I would like to thank the organizer for inviting Tourism Malaysia to be part of this important occasion. It is my great pleasure to be here tonight to honour the recipients of the Japan Tourism Award.

Tourism is an industry of making people happy and making their dreams come true. I believe that this is the common aim of everyone who is in this business. So, tonight is a reminder of the amount of labour, passion and dedication that you have all put into realizing the average personâ??s dream of venturing out beyond their normal realms into worlds of different colours, cultures and beauty.

On that note, I wish to congratulate all the award recipients for their hard-earned success.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Malaysia and Japan have long-established political, business and social ties with each other. Since the Look East Policy was introduced in 1981, Malaysians have come to regard Japan as a brother from whom we can learn so much.

I am happy to note the initiatives by JNTO to make Japan a Muslim-friendly destination. I believe more Malaysians, particularly Muslim Malaysians, are finding it easier to enjoy your beautiful country. I understand there are approximately xxx Malaysian tourists visiting Japan yearly, with a significant number being Muslim Malaysians.

At the same time, I am also heartened to see more Japanese visiting Malaysia. I believe that our diverse population, the many different cultures and variety of food are an attraction to them. In fact, in 2014, we received approximately xxx Japanese tourists to Malaysia. I hope that with Malaysia Year of Festivals, we will see more Japanese visiting Malaysia this year!

In addition, we are also happy to welcome xxx Japanese citizens who have made Malaysia as their second home under the Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) programme. We are happy to offer a comfortable, safe and affordable destination for long-stay purposes to the Japanese.

The growing Japanese presence in Malaysia as well as the number of Malaysians visiting, working and studying in Japan point to the healthy and reciprocal relationship we have with each other.

It is my sincere wish that our relationship will continue to grow to prosper both countries socially, economically and politically.

To conclude, I once again thank the organizer for inviting Tourism Malaysia to this event and my sincere congratulations to all the award recipients.

Thank you.

END