Well-known Indonesian businessman and politician Halim Kalla was on Friday officially appointed as Malaysia's Honorary Consul to the Sulawesi Islands region.

Halim, 59, received the letter of appointment for the post from the Yang Dipertuan Agong, which was presented to him by Malaysia's Ambassador to Indonesia Datuk Seri Zahrain Mohamed Hashim.

In conjunction with the appointment, Zahrain also officiated the opening of the Malaysian Honorary Consulate office in Sulawesi, an idea initiated by Halim, at Wisma Kalla here.

Zahrain said Halim's appointment was in line with Malaysia's need to have a representative in Sulawesi as the region was close to Sabah and had border trade relations.

He said Sulawesi was also not foreign to Malaysians as many of Bugis ancestry were from here while 300 Malaysian students were still studying at the Universiti Sultan Hasanuddin in Kota Makassar.

Halim is the younger brother of the Indonesian vice-president Jusuf Kalla and had been appointed to the same position in 2007.

Meanwhile, when met, Halim said he was honoured by the appointment and it was a recognition for the people of Sulawesi Selatan.

He said Sulawesi was a gateway of trade for Malaysia especially between Tawau in Sabah and Pelabuhan Pare Pare in Makassar.

He said besides business ties, the appointment as Honorary Consul was actually a necessity as many people from Sulawesi worked in Malaysia while many Malaysians had relatives in Sulawesi.

"There is a lot of similarities between the lives of the people here and those in Malaysia. We have many similarities in culture and language, and I have now been assigned to foster economic and cultural ties between Sulawesi and Malaysia," he said. -- Bernama