Malaysia and Indonesia sign border crossing agreement, boosting security

A border crossing agreement between Malaysia and Indonesia has been signed, as part of six bilateral instruments agreed upon during Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s two-day visit to Malaysia. The joint statement by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and Joko Widodo revealed that the agreement aims to strengthen Malaysia-Indonesia bilateral relations, particularly in the economic and security sectors. The agreement, which covers border security matters, including at Indonesia’s new capital, Nusantara in Kalimantan, was signed by Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail and his Indonesian counterpart Muhammad Tito Karnavian.

In addition to the border crossing agreement, Malaysia and Indonesia signed two cooperation agreements concerning water security. These are the Treaty Relating to the Territorial Sea Delimitation of the Two Countries in the Southernmost Part of the Melaka Straits and another treaty in the Sulawesi Sea. Both treaties were signed by Foreign Minister Zambry Abdul Kadir and Retno Marsudi representing Indonesia.

Two collaborations involving the economic field were also signed, namely the Border Trade Agreement and the Investment Promotion Cooperation under the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry. These were signed by Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz and Indonesia’s Minister of Trade Zulkifli Hasan and Minister of Investment Bahlil Lahadalia.

The two countries also signed a memorandum of cooperation on Mutual Recognition of Halal Certification for Domestic Products which was signed by Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (Jakim) director-general Hakimah Mohd Yusoff and chairman of Halal Product Assurance Agency Indonesia Muhammad Aqil Irham.

Both the Malaysian prime minister and Indonesian president witnessed the signing of the six instruments after their meeting was over.

Earlier, Joko Widodo, also known as Jokowi, was greeted by Anwar when he arrived at Kompleks Seri Perdana. The two leaders then held a meeting to assess the progress in cooperation and discuss outstanding bilateral issues. Jokowi arrived in Malaysia for a two-day working visit at the invitation of the prime minister following his official visit to the republic in January. The last time Jokowi paid an official visit to Malaysia was in 2019, after he was re-elected for a second term through the presidential election on April 17.