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Annual Consultation Important Mechanism To Boost Malaysia-Indonesia Ties
Annual Consultation Important Mechanism To Boost Malaysia-Indonesia Ties
21/12/2013 (Bernama) - Achievements in the Malaysia-Indonesia Annual Consultation are of a reflection that it is an important mechanism in raising bilateral ties to a higher level.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, who has led the Malaysian delegation four times to meet with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in the event, described the Malaysia-Indonesia Annual Consultation as beneficial and productive for both countries.
"Each year, we can see and measure the progress and success of the increasingly amicable and strong relationship between Malaysia and Indonesia.
"In this year's annual consultation, I have given my full agreement to suggestions raised by the president, and vice versa," he said at the end of the meeting in Istana Merdeka in Jakarta, Thursday.
The 10th Malaysia-Indonesia Annual Consultation Thursday resulted in a number of achievements in bilateral cooperation and agreement on regional and international issues.
Among the important decisions made was their agreement to invite ASEAN member countries to unite and reject foreign espionage activities.
Susilo said Thursday that mutual trust and respect were important in international relations and he would raise the proposal in the next ASEAN summit.
Malaysian Ambassador to Indonesia Datuk Seri Zahrain Mohamed Hashim assessed the meeting as a manifestation of commitment between both countries to increase cooperation in all fields to strengthen bilateral ties.
In the field of economy, Malaysia and Indonesia have agreed to take measures to increase two-way trade from the current figure of between US$20 billion (RM65.6 billion) and US$23 billion (RM75.4 billion) to US$30 billion (RM98.4 billion) in 2015.
On Thursday, Najib stated that he and Susilo had decided that trade ministers from both countries would identify methods and ways to further push bilateral trade.
"One of the proposals is to abolish all non-tariff barriers between Malaysia and Indonesia. For example, if the Indonesian halal certificate is accepted in Malaysia, we hope the Malaysian halal certificate is also accepted in Indonesia.
"I think it's important for us to make reciprocity a principle for us to identify methods and ways to boost bilateral trade," said Najib.
The prime minister thanked the Indonesian president for supporting Malaysia's Global Movement of Moderates (GMM) concept for the global community as Najib wanted the Southeast Asian region, especially in the context of Malaysia and Indonesia, to become areas free from radical beliefs, extremism and violence.
Susilo said he had similar views as Malaysia and wanted to work together in this effort as the concept of moderation were religious and cultural values that must be held high by both countries and the rest of the world.
Another proposal by Malaysia accepted in the annual consultation was cooperation to ensure palm oil prices were more stable, appropriate as both Indonesia and Malaysia were the world's largest producers of the commodity.
This also included stepping up two-way cooperation to unfair pressure on both countries when coconut oil was labeled as not environmentally-friendly or given other negative labels, noted Najib.
At the end of the annual consultation, Malaysia and Indonesia signed two memoranda of understanding (MoU) on a Student Pass and Visa for Higher Learning Programmes, and one on cooperation in the field of youth and sports.
Another MoU on the Cooperation in Preventing and Combating Transnational Crimes was not signed on Thursday, believed to be because both countries wanted to review several legal aspects in the understanding.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, who has led the Malaysian delegation four times to meet with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in the event, described the Malaysia-Indonesia Annual Consultation as beneficial and productive for both countries.
"Each year, we can see and measure the progress and success of the increasingly amicable and strong relationship between Malaysia and Indonesia.
"In this year's annual consultation, I have given my full agreement to suggestions raised by the president, and vice versa," he said at the end of the meeting in Istana Merdeka in Jakarta, Thursday.
The 10th Malaysia-Indonesia Annual Consultation Thursday resulted in a number of achievements in bilateral cooperation and agreement on regional and international issues.
Among the important decisions made was their agreement to invite ASEAN member countries to unite and reject foreign espionage activities.
Susilo said Thursday that mutual trust and respect were important in international relations and he would raise the proposal in the next ASEAN summit.
Malaysian Ambassador to Indonesia Datuk Seri Zahrain Mohamed Hashim assessed the meeting as a manifestation of commitment between both countries to increase cooperation in all fields to strengthen bilateral ties.
In the field of economy, Malaysia and Indonesia have agreed to take measures to increase two-way trade from the current figure of between US$20 billion (RM65.6 billion) and US$23 billion (RM75.4 billion) to US$30 billion (RM98.4 billion) in 2015.
On Thursday, Najib stated that he and Susilo had decided that trade ministers from both countries would identify methods and ways to further push bilateral trade.
"One of the proposals is to abolish all non-tariff barriers between Malaysia and Indonesia. For example, if the Indonesian halal certificate is accepted in Malaysia, we hope the Malaysian halal certificate is also accepted in Indonesia.
"I think it's important for us to make reciprocity a principle for us to identify methods and ways to boost bilateral trade," said Najib.
The prime minister thanked the Indonesian president for supporting Malaysia's Global Movement of Moderates (GMM) concept for the global community as Najib wanted the Southeast Asian region, especially in the context of Malaysia and Indonesia, to become areas free from radical beliefs, extremism and violence.
Susilo said he had similar views as Malaysia and wanted to work together in this effort as the concept of moderation were religious and cultural values that must be held high by both countries and the rest of the world.
Another proposal by Malaysia accepted in the annual consultation was cooperation to ensure palm oil prices were more stable, appropriate as both Indonesia and Malaysia were the world's largest producers of the commodity.
This also included stepping up two-way cooperation to unfair pressure on both countries when coconut oil was labeled as not environmentally-friendly or given other negative labels, noted Najib.
At the end of the annual consultation, Malaysia and Indonesia signed two memoranda of understanding (MoU) on a Student Pass and Visa for Higher Learning Programmes, and one on cooperation in the field of youth and sports.
Another MoU on the Cooperation in Preventing and Combating Transnational Crimes was not signed on Thursday, believed to be because both countries wanted to review several legal aspects in the understanding.