President Jokowi Receives Malaysian DPM Wan Azizah at Bogor Palace

President Jokowi receives a courtesy call from Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, at the Bogor Palace, West Java, Tuesday (9/10). Photo by: Oji/ Public Relations Division of Cabinet Secretariat.

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, accompanied by Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi and Minister of State Secretary Pratikno, received a courtesy call from Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, at the Bogor Palace, West Java, Tuesday (9/10).

After the meeting, Minister Retno Marsudi said that the visit was an introductory visit made by Wan Azizah as Deputy PM.

“The visit of Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister followed the previous visit made by Malaysian Prime Minister,” Retno told reporters after the meeting, adding that as friendly countries, Indonesia and Malaysia agreed to intensify communication between the leaders of the two countries.

“With good communication, it will be easier to solve any problem in the future,” Retno said.

The two leaders, Retno said, also agreed that Indonesia and Malaysia have a good relationship and the two countries will continue to strengthen it.

On the occasion, President Jokowi and Deputy Prime Minister Wan Azizah also discussed several issues related to Indonesian citizens who live and work in Malaysia, including the education for children of Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia.

Retno explained that several Community Learning Centers have been established in Sabah and Sarawak, but there is no Community Learning Center in Malaysian Peninsula.

“Therefore, Indonesia has requested to establish a Community Learning Center in the Peninsula since there are a lot of Indonesian children living there,” she added.

President Jokowi, the Foreign Minister continued, also talked about the cooperation for improving security in the territorial waters of the two countries. Regarding this matter, President Jokowi pointed the latest case, in which two Indonesian citizens who work on Malaysian fishing boats were kidnapped in Sabah waters.

“Therefore, the President asks Malaysian authorities to increase cooperation in maintaining the security of territorial waters in the respective regions,” Retno said.

She went on to say that during the meeting, Wan Azizah conveyed several things. First, the importance of increasing cooperation in the framework of counter terrorism by exchanging intelligence information.

The second one was the issue of palm oil. The countries will continue to to work together in the framework of promoting sustainable palm oil.

“The President agreed with the proposal and the cooperation is reflected in CPOPC,” Retno explained, adding that CPOPC is an organization of palm oil producers. The members of the organization, Indonesia and Malaysia, continue to work together in promoting sustainable palm oil.

(FID/OJI/ES) (RI/MMB/Naster)