Jokowi Meets Malaysian Foreign Minister, Talks EU Deforestation Regulation

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo welcomed Malaysian Foreign Affairs Minister Mohamad Hasan at the State Palace in Jakarta on Tuesday, Feb. 6. Hasan paid a courtesy visit to discuss a number of issues with Jokowi.

Hasan is one of the new ministers in the newly reshuffled government of Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in December 2023. He previously served as Minister of Defense.

“We talked about Indonesia-Malaysia relations, which are growing closer, and this visit is also aimed at strengthening friendship,” Hasan said after the meeting.

In a press statement, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said the meeting lasted approximately half an hour and discussed three issues. The first issue was the border agreement between the two countries that was agreed upon last year. The second issue was regarding Indonesian migrant workers, particularly concerning the right to education for the children of migrant workers. The third topic was economic cooperation.

“We have a strong commitment to further strengthen economic cooperation because we know that our trade and investment ties with Malaysia are significant,” Retno said in a press statement after the meeting.

Aside from bilateral issues, the two discussed the Myanmar crisis, Palestinian independence, and the European Union's deforestation regulation, which was claimed to be detrimental to both countries as they restrict the exports of commodities, such as palm oil.

“Malaysia and Indonesia must jointly speak out on the country's economic interests,” said Hasan.

Prior to the meeting, Hasan confirmed that there were no immediate plans for Anwar and Jokowi to meet. The two leaders last held a bilateral meeting in June 2023, and have met several times at ASEAN summits.

DANIEL A. FAJRI

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