Najib arrives In Jakarta for annual leaders consultation

Datuk Seri Najib Tun Abdul Razak arrived here on Wednesday night to attend the 10th annual Malaysia-Indonesia leaders' consultation with Indonesian President Dr Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono over two days from Thursday.

The special aircraft carrying the Prime Minister and his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor landed at the Halim Perdanakusuma Airport here.

They were received by Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa, Malaysian Deputy Foreign Minister Datuk Hamzah Zainuddin and senior government servants of both countries.

Also present were Malaysian ambassador to Indonesia Datuk Seri Zahrain Mohamed Hashim, Indonesian ambassador to Malaysia Herman Prayitno and Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo (Jokowi).

Najib's delegation comprises eight Cabinet Ministers, namely Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed, Agriculture and Agro-based Industries Ministry Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Seri Douglas Uggah Embas, Human Resource Minister Datuk Seri Richard Riot, Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri G. Palanivel, Second Education Minister Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh and Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.

The agenda of the talks, to be held at Istana Merdeka, President's Palace Complex here, also touches on discussions on the growth of cooperation in various aspects, including trade and investment, security, environment and people-to-people relations.

Both leaders will also witness the signing of a memoranda of understanding (MoUs) on cooperation to prevent and combat transnational crimes, student passes and visa for higher education and youth and sports Cooperation.

The meeting will be the fourth between Najib and Yudhoyono since 2010.

In 2012, bilateral trade stood at US$19 billion, making Malaysia the seventh-biggest exporting and fourth-biggest importing nation for Indonesia.

From January to October this year, bilateral tarde stood at US$16.22 billion, an increase of 2.8 percent compared to the volume of US$15.77 billion recorded in the same period last year.