Former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim have reaffirmed their countries' cooperation in areas such as decarbonization and energy transition.

Kishida handed the Malaysian prime minister a letter from his successor, Shigeru Ishiba, at a meeting in the Malaysian administrative capital of Putrajaya on Tuesday.

They also exchanged views on U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff measures.

"We were able to deepen our friendship after a long time," Kishida said at a news conference, referring to a series of meetings he held with Anwar during his tenure as prime minister.

"We had a frank exchange of views based on a relationship of trust," he said.

Kishida visited Malaysia as Ishiba's special envoy and was accompanied by Koichi Hagiuda, the former policy chief of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, and others.