Indonesia confident ties with Malaysia intact amid global challenges

JAKARTA - Indonesia's Human Resources Minister Ida Fauziyah expressed confidence that the bilateral relationship between Indonesia and Malaysia will remain intact amid a dynamic and challenging global situation.

He believes that ties in the economic, trade and investment sectors can be further improved through the joint commitment of both countries to strengthen cooperation across various fields.

"Malaysia is Indonesia's second largest trading partner and ranked fifth in investment in 2022," he said at the 66th Malaysia National Day reception Thursday night.

Cooperation also extends to the sub-regional level through the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) and the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asean Growth Area (BIMP EAGA).

The visit of national leaders also strengthened the relationship with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's visit here in January and President Joko Widodo's visit to Putrajaya in June, he said.

Regarding efforts to increase protection for Indonesian workers in Malaysia, Ida Fauziyah affirmed that close cooperation is ongoing and welcomed by the Malaysian government.

Meanwhile, Malaysian Ambassador to Indonesia Datuk Syed Md Hasrin Tengku Hussin was happy with the level of close relations at the government, economic and investment levels as well as between the people of the two countries so far.

"Insya-Allah, next week the Prime Minister will lead the Malaysian delegation to the 43rd Asean Summit in Jakarta and this will be his third visit to Indonesia this year," he said.

The reception organised by the embassy was jovial and attended by more than a thousand guests including the former Vice President of Indonesia Jusuf Kalla, politicians and leaders of the Indonesian government, the diplomatic corps, the business community, the media, and the Malaysian diaspora. - BERNAMA