New prime minister of Malaysia Nazib Razak wants a better relations with Indonesia (photo: reuters)
The newly-elected prime minister of Malaysia Najib Tun Razak said Malay-Indonesian relations will be strengthened through investment and economic integration.
Najib and President of Indonesia Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had their first talk in March when Yudhoyono telephoned to congratulate him on is election as the sixth prime minister of Malaysia.
“President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono warmly welcomes the appointment of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and is ready to cooperate closely with him,” Said the spokesperson of presidential Dino Patti Djalal.
He said, “During the phone conversations, the two leaders reiterated their commitment to continue preserving and developing the good relationship between Indonesia and Malaysia in the future.”
Najib said that Malaysian and Indonesian investors should form partnerships and should looks for potential investment strategic. The investment by Malaysian businesses in palm oil plantation in Indonesia should be done by joint venture with Indonesian businessman so that the enterprises would not be 100 percent controlled by the Malaysian, he said.
“In the future we may be able to look at supplying electricity from the Bakun hydroelectric project (in Sarawak) to Peninsular Malaysia or to Kalimantan or having electricity from Indonesia exported to Malaysia,” Najib told Indonesian journalists.
He further said that he and Yudhoyono agreed to have direct telephone contact if there were issues that needed to be resolved. He said that besides building formal ties, there needed to be a personal relationship among leaders.
Asking about the relationship between the two countries if Indonesia had a new leader, he said that the relationship between both countries should be continued.
“We understand that Indonesia plays a very important role for Malaysia, and it is not just because of strategic considerations. Indonesia and Malaysia have similarities in culture, religion and emotion. It’s difficult to separate the two countries,” he said.
Sources: Jakarta Post, Bernama.com, New Straits Times, MCOT.net
Filed under: politics
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