Malaysia PM Agrees to Develop Border with Indonesia's New Capital

TheIndonesia.id - Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said he is fully behind Indonesia’s idea to relocate its capital to East Kalimantan and said Malaysia is committed to accelerate development in the border area with Indonesia.

After his meeting with President Joko Widodo in Merdeka Palace in Jakarta on Friday, April 1, the PM said new capital Nusantara is among the focuses of discussion, and the neighboring countries agreed on the idea to build their land border in Kalimantan to improve the area.

“With the opening of Nusantara [as] capital, we agree to improve the development in border area,” Yaakob stated.

He revealed that the two leaders also agreed that both Indonesia and Malaysia need to study the areas in respective country where improvement is pressing and crucial.

The meeting also saw the signing of memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the placement and protection of Indonesian migrant workers, or PMI, by Indonesia’s Minister of Manpower Ida Fauziyah and her Malaysian counterpart Saravanan Murugan.

The MoU regulates that the placement, monitoring, and repatriation of PMI will be done through one channel system, and President Widodo said the signing is crucial to support and protect migrant workers who massively contribute to the economy.

“It’s only right that they are protected and their rights are fulfilled by both countries,” he commented.

Besides the President and Minister Fauziyah, Indonesia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi, Minister of Law and Human Rights Yasonna Hamonangan Laoly, Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung, and Indonesian Ambassador to Malaysia Hermono were also present during the occasion.

Meanwhile, PM Yaakob was accompanied by Minister of Communications and Multimedia Annuar Musa, Minister of Rural Development Mahdzir Khalid, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Kamarudin Jaffar, and member of parliament Tajuddin Abdul Rahman.