PUTRAJAYA: Greater cooperation in fighting the anti-palm oil lobby and better cross-border ties between Kalimantan and Malaysia’s Sabah and Sarawak – were among the main takeaways from Indonesian president Joko Widodo’s visit to Malaysia yesterday.
The two-day visit also saw both neighbours resolving two maritime border disputes – in the Malacca Straits and Sulawesi sea – after nearly two decades of talks.
Joko Widodo, popularly known as “Jokowi” and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim made the announcement after witnessing the exchange of agreements and memoranda of understanding at the Prime Minister’s office yesterday.
It was Jokowi’s first visit to Malaysia after Anwar’s unity government was formed.
Among the new agreements were two aimed at increasing and easing cross-border commerce, especially to benefit from the development of Nusantara, Indonesia’s new capital in Kalimantan, a province which borders both Sabah and Sarawak.
“We focused more on direct investment and easing investment in the border areas,” Anwar told the joint press conference.
“Several decisions were reached in areas including labour and borders as we want to support the development of the (new) Indonesian capital,” Anwar said.
In his remarks, Jokowi humorously referred to the talks to resolve the boundary claims between the two nations that had dragged on for 18 years.
“I hope the negotiations on boundaries in other areas can be resolved while Anwar is still PM and Jokowi is still president,” he joked, an indirect reference to the fact that his term ends before February next year when Indonesia is slated to hold its next presidential elections.
Jokowi also lauded the cooperation between Malaysia and Indonesia in pushing back against moves by the European Union to block imports of palm oil.
“This (cooperation) has to be strengthened. Don’t let the palm oil produced by Malaysia and Indonesia be discriminated against by other countries,” he said.
The EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), that takes effect this year, bans imports of commodities linked to deforestation and there are fears that it will adversely impact palm oil exports to the EU.
