Jakarta，January 8，2023（AseanAll）Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has arrived in Indonesia for his maiden working visit to the country.
Photo: Bernama
Anwar arrived with his wife Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport via a special aircraft at 1.57pm on Sunday (Jan 8).
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Malaysia，this visit is at the invitation of the President of the Republic of Indonesia, His Excellency Joko Widodo following YAB Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s appointment as Prime Minister on 24 November 2022.
This is YAB Prime Minister’s first official visit abroad.
The Prime Minister will be accompanied by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, YB Dato’ Seri Diraja Dr. Zambry Abd Kadir; Minister of International Trade and Industry, YB Tengku Datuk Seri Utama Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz, as well as officials from relevant Ministries and Agencies.
The Prime Minister is scheduled to have a four-eye meeting with the President of the Republic of Indonesia at the Presidential Palace in Bogor on Monday (Jan 9).
The meeting will provide the opportunity for both sides to take stock of the progress of bilateral cooperation, explore potential of new cooperation, and promote joint effort to address regional and global challenges. Among the key issues that will be discussed are pertaining to economic cooperation including Malaysia’s potential investments in Ibu Kota Negara (IKN) Nusantara, land demarcation and maritime border delimitation, and employment and protection of Indonesian migrant workers.
Both leaders will also exchange views on regional and global issues specifically on the situation in Myanmar and joint effort to address discrimination against palm oil, which Malaysia and Indonesia are the world’s largest exporters.
Malaysian Prime Minister and Indonesian President will also witness the handing over of 11 Letters of Interest (LoI) from Malaysian companies to participate in the development of IKN Nusantara by the Minister of International Trade and Industry to the Chairman of Nusantara Capital City Authority. In addition, a total of eight (8) Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) between Malaysian and Indonesian private sectors will be signed at the sidelines of the visit that is estimated to be worth RM1.16 billion.
During the visit, Anwar is also scheduled to deliver a public lecture on “Malaysia-Indonesia Strategic Relations” and host an engagement session with the Malaysian diaspora in Jakarta.
In 2021, Indonesia was Malaysia’s 7th largest global trading partner and 3rd within ASEAN with trade valued at RM95.31 billion (USD22.98 billion). For the period of January – November 2022, Indonesia was Malaysia’s 6th largest trading partner globally and the 2nd largest trading partner within ASEAN with the total trade increased by 41.7% amounting to RM120.26 billion (USD27.31 billion).
