History has proven that Malaysia is a resilient nation, despite multiple challenges faced by the global economy. The country has a well-diversified economy resting on the back of solid economic fundamentals. With a stable economic and political environment, good infrastructure and proximity to the large Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Asia-Pacific markets, Japanese firms have long found Malaysia to be suited for their activities as Malaysia is cost-competitive hub for investments in this region.

Since the 1980s, Japan has been among the country's top source of foreign direct investment. As of the end of 2016, a total of 2,621 projects with Japanese participation have been implemented with investments valued at $27.8 billion. These projects are mainly in the electronics and electrical product, chemical and chemical product, non-metallic mineral product, transport equipment and basic metal product areas.

Malaysia is proud to host notable Japanese companies such as Rohm-Wako Electronic Sdn. Bhd., Panasonic Corp., Nippon Electric Glass Co., Toray Industries Inc., Fuji Electric Co., Ibiden Co., Sony Corp., NEC Corp. and Honda Motor Co. Japanese investors are also present in Malaysia's services sector, active in retail, convenience stores, financial services, creative content and regional areas in addition to many sales and trading offices that have existed over the years. In recent years, more and more Japanese companies are using Malaysia as their base for conducting their regional and global operations. This includes the approved "Principal Hubs" of Sharp Corp. and Daikin Industries Ltd., both renowned Japanese companies in the consumer electronics sector.