SEPANG – Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s first official visit to Jakarta on January 8-9 can significantly improve both countries’ bilateral ties, especially in exploring new working relationships, said Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Zambry Abdul Kadir.
Zambry said Anwar’s two-day visit at the invitation of Indonesia President Joko Widodo will be the prime minister’s first official visit to a foreign country since being sworn in on November 24, last year.
“The visit’s main objective is to strengthen the bilateral ties between Malaysia and Indonesia. The prime minister is scheduled to meet President Joko Widodo at Istana Bogor on January 9,” he said during a preview of Anwar’s visit to Indonesia, here today.
Zambry said the meeting will provide an opportunity for both sides to evaluate the progress of their bilateral ties and explore new opportunities to face regional and global challenges.
He said five main issues will be discussed during the meeting, including potential investments by Malaysia in Indonesia, strategies to overcome the discrimination of palm oil by the European Union, territorial and maritime issues, employment and security of migrant workers from Indonesia as well as Indonesia’s chairmanship of Asean in 2023.
He added that eight memoranda of understanding (MoU) will be signed by private firms from both countries.
Apart from the MoU, Zambry said a function to submit 11 letters of intent by Malaysian companies to the chairman of Nusantara is also scheduled, to establish Malaysia’s intention to work closely with Indonesia to develop its new capital, Nusantara.
“We noticed that the development of Nusantara has been rapid and that will certainly provide opportunities for Malaysia, especially for Sabah and Sarawak to receive spillover benefits. This is a new opportunity that needs to be discussed, especially in the context of Nusantara’s development,” he said.
Zambry said during the visit, Anwar is also scheduled to present a public talk on Malaysia-Indonesia strategic relationship and will take the opportunity to meet and greet the Malaysian diaspora in Jakarta.
He said Indonesia was Malaysia’s seventh largest global partner in trade and third biggest among Asean countries with a trade volume worth RM95.31 billion in 2021.
Meanwhile, from January to November 2022, Indonesia was the sixth largest global trading partner and second largest among Asean countries with trade amounting to 41.7%, worth RM120.26 billion. – Bernama, January 7, 2023
