Japanese Chamber of Trade and Industry Malaysia president Shuichi Yoshida said Japan is keen to participate in the high-speed rail (HSR) development.
"We would like to bring in our expertise and transfer our technical know-how in the development process," said Yoshida.
Malaysia plans to build the HSR link between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, which is expected to cut land travelling time between the two countries to just 90 minutes.
The project, which was agreed to in principle between Malaysia and Singapore in February 2013, is targeted for completion by 2020.
Business Times has reported that the 400km project is estimated to cost some RM40 billion ($12.1 billion). The amount includes the purchase of locomotives and high-speed bullet trains.
Several Malaysian and foreign firms have started talks to form consortiums to bid for the project.
They include MMC Corp Bhd, which may team up with Gamuda Bhd and Chinese and European system integrators; and YTL Corp Bhd, which partners Spanish bullet-train maker Talgo or CAF.
Other firms are UEM Group Bhd, which is working with Ara Group to form a consortium with European companies that may also include Talgo and Global Rail Sdn Bhd, which is talking to Canada's Bombardier Inc and Chinese firm China Railway Group.
Meanwhile, Yoshida said Japanese companies are also interested to build water-treatment plants and power-plant projects that are being implemented under the Economic Transformation Programme.