Anwar arrives in Indonesia for first official visit as PM

JAKARTA: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim arrived in Indonesia today, on his first official visit since taking office on Nov 24.

The 10th Prime Minister of Malaysia, who is known by the people and respected by community leaders here, was accompanied by his wife Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail on the two-day visit.

The special plane carrying Anwar and his wife landed at Terminal 3 of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport at 2 pm local time (3 pm Malaysia time).

He was received by the Indonesian Minister of Public Works and Housing Basuki Hadimuljono and Indonesian Ambassador to Malaysia Hermono.

Anwar was accompanied by Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir, International Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz and Deputy Chief of Mission of the Malaysian Embassy in Jakarta Adlan Mohd Shaffieq.

Anwar is scheduled to hold a meeting with Indonesian President Joko Widodo tomorrow which will give Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta the opportunity to assess the progress of bilateral cooperation, explore new cooperation opportunities and encourage joint efforts to address regional and global challenges.

Various issues will be discussed including economic cooperation and potential investment by Malaysia in the Capital City of Nusantara, restrictions of land and maritime borders, as well as the recruitment and protection of migrant workers from Indonesia.

The two leaders will also exchange views on regional and global developments, especially the situation in Myanmar and joint efforts to deal with palm oil discrimination given that Malaysia and Indonesia are the world's largest exporters.

During the visit, eight memorandums of understanding between the private sector of Malaysia and Indonesia will be signed with total projects estimated to be worth RM1.16 billion.

In addition, Anwar is scheduled to deliver a public lecture on "Malaysia-Indonesia Strategic Relations" and hold a meeting session with the Malaysian diaspora in Jakarta.

In 2021, Indonesia is Malaysia's seventh largest global trading partner and the third largest among ASEAN countries with a trade volume of RM95.31 billion (US$22.98 billion).

From January to November 2022, Indonesia is the sixth largest global trading partner and the second largest among ASEAN countries with an increase in trade volume of 41.7 per cent with a total of RM120.26 billion (US$27.31 billion).

Anwar's visit is highly anticipated by the people in Indonesia, especially the policy reforms that will be introduced to strengthen Malaysia-Indonesia relations.

-- BERNAMA