Malaysia and Indonesia are looking to boost bilateral relations with the visit of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak to Jakarta which officially began today.
According to a statement released by the Malaysian foreign minister, Najib is meeting Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo for the 11th Annual Consultation between the two leaders on August 1. It will be the first ever meeting between the two leaders under the annual consultation framework, which was last held in December 2013 before Jokowi had come to power (their first encounter was when Jokowi visited Malaysia back in February 2015).
Ahead of the meeting, Malaysian Ambassador to Indonesia Zahrain Mohamed Hashim had told Malaysian journalists that the meeting between the two leaders will cover a range economic and security issues. These include a number of differences between the two countries on maids, the transboundary haze problem and outstanding maritime boundary issues.
The two leaders will witness the signing of a pact between Bank Negara Malaysia and the Financial Services Authority of Indonesia under the ASEAN Banking Integration Framework as well as a pact between the Indonesian government and the Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries (CPOPC) on the setting up of the CPOPC Secretariat.
There will also be a people-to-people component of the visit as Najib will meet Malaysian diaspora at the Malaysian Embassy over dinner after consultations with Jokowi.
Following these engagements, Najib will also attend the 12th World Islamic Economic Forum (WIFE) which will be held for three days beginning Tuesday. In addition to delivering an address at the opening session on August 2, Najib also has a few bilateral meetings and engagements planned during the event as well. He will meet with heads of state from countries including Sri Lanka, Jordan and Tajikistan, attend the pre-launch of the Global Entrepreneurship Community (GECommunity) initiated by the finance ministry, and witness the exchange of several pacts with international companies.
Najib’s delegation will comprise several ministers including Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, Trade Minister Mustapa Mohamed, and Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Mah Siew Keong.