Malaysia-Indonesia to appoint special envoys to address maritime boundary issue

The agreement was made after a delegation meeting between Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and Indonesian President Jojo Widodo with cabinet ministers and government officials at the Perdana Putra Complex in Putrajaya, here today.

Najib during a press conference held after a delegation meeting today said, a technical committee has held a total of 26 meetings to address issues revolving maritime delimitation, in the past. The outcome and significant progress said Najib, are yet to be seen.

“Both of us agreed to improve and resume efforts to resolve maritime boundary issue based on technical reports to the Foreign Minister.

“Secondly, is the agreement to appoint special officers to conduct first phase of exploration negotiations to seek the right formula that would probably be accepted by rulers and the people of Malaysia and Indonesia,” said Najib.

Touching on fishermen intrusion issue which had resurfaced not too long ago, both countries have agreed that any fishermen spotted in prohibited waters would be sent home immediately, while fishermen caught beyond the legitimate zone would be penalised by authorities governing the waters.

Joko Widodo, who is fondly known as Jokowi, when commenting on the subject of job employment said that both countries are in unison in ensuring the migration of Indonesian employees to Malaysia as an official channel.

“The Indonesian labour force or TKI will only adopt one channel until protection matters on TKI in Malaysia can be jointly-done,” said Jokowi.

At present, a total of 4,000 Indonesian maids have entered Malaysia via official channel.

Over the past few months, mounting pressure has centred on competing claims to potentially energy-rich seabeds in the Celebes Sea off the eastern coast of the vast island of Borneo, which the two nations share along with tiny Brunei.

But they also have disputed maritime borders in other spots, and Indonesia has lately sought to crack down on illegal fishing in its waters, using explosives to destroy and sink a number of foreign vessels caught in the act, including from Malaysia.

Widodo said maritime disputes had "lingered for too long."

Widodo's two-day stay is his first official bilateral trip abroad since taking office late last year and the choice of Malaysia appeared to underline the mutually-held importance of steady relations between two countries that sprawl across vital Southeast Asian sea lanes.

In a different development, Najib is also aligned with his Indonesian counterpart in taking effort to establish a Community Learning Centre (CLC) to provide education opportunities for Indonesian children residing in Sabah.

The leaders also agreed that cooperation in economy and investments must be fostered.