Malaysia, Indonesia set to enhance bilateral ties

2009/11/08

Malaysia and Indonesia are set to enhance their bilateral ties when Indonesian President Susilo Bambang and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Abdul Razak meet next week.

Susilo, scheduled for a two-day visit beginning Nov 11, is expected to discuss with Najib matters regarding security, energy, food and labour besides economic matters.

The visit will be his first since taking the oath of office as Indonesian President for a second term on Oct 20.

Indonesia's Ambassador to Malaysia, Tan Sri Da'i Bachtiar, said President Susilo's visit was significant as it placed Malaysia in a place of importance for Indonesia.

This was also reflected when Najib chose Indonesia as the first country to visit after being sworn in as prime minister, he said.

In earlier meetings before this both leaders had stressed that both Malaysia and Indonesia would not only continue their existing good relations but would in fact enhance them.

As such both leaders had set to have annual consultations hosted in turn with Jakarta being the first host this year and Kuala Lumpur the next next year.

In terms of trade, Indonesia is among Malaysia's top 10 trading partners. Malaysia is also one of Indonesia''s largest investors.

President Susilo is expected to provide a picture to Malaysian businessmen of his new government's policy at a business luncheon on Nov 12.

Da'i said besides bilateral issues both leaders would also touch on issues related to multi-laterism.

These included issues related to the global financial crisis.

What was more important in the discussions was, both countries that have long historical and cultural ties, were united for their common good and interests, he said.

"Of course from the aspect of bilateral ties, we have issues not resolved, like maritime boundaries that are being resolved through working groups," he said.

On the matter of Indonesian manpower, both leaders are expected to provide guidelines to their ministers working to come up with a memorandum of understanding, in light of the Indonesian government placing a moratarium on maids.

He said another matter that may be brought up is the death of maid Muntik recently where the government had given assurance that the matter would be resolved according to law.

"We appreciate these measures as it shows to Indonesians that whosoever commits abuse has to go through a process of law," he said.

On relations between the two nations, Da'i said there were ups and downs when sensitive issues emerged but efforts were being made to enhance communication amd interaction, especially among youth.

"The same goes for varsity-level programmes. We know there are 15,000 Indonesian students in Malaysia and 5,000 Malaysian students in Indonesia. They need to have friendly agents between them," he said.

Besides that the media was also important where Malaysian and Indonesian journalists play a role to report on current developments and were responsible in their reporting so as not to affect ties between the two countries. - Bernama