JAKARTA, June 28 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto have expressed the strong commitment of both countries to accelerate strategic cooperation in various fields including joint development in the maritime border area of Malaysia and Indonesia in Ambalat in a peaceful and mutually beneficial manner.
In a joint press conference after a bilateral meeting at Istana Merdeka on Friday, Anwar said both countries should consider economic cooperation including in the maritime border area that benefits the people.
“If it appears that there is still a bit of a deadlock in negotiations in terms of principles, regulations and laws, then there is no obstacle for us to accelerate economic cooperation including what (Prabawo) mentioned earlier regarding the joint development authority.
“Even in the Ambalat area, if we wait to finish it, it might take another two decades. So let’s take advantage of this time to get results to benefit both countries and defend the fate of our people in an area that is quite far from the border,” explained Anwar.
He was commenting on Prabowo’s statement that both countries should speed up the resolution of technical issues related to borders and maritime.
“Regarding the border issue, which technically may take time, we agreed to find a mutually beneficial solution. For example, the Ambalat region, while waiting for the legal settlement, we want to start economic cooperation through a joint-development mechanism,” said Prabowo.
The two leaders also stressed their commitment to increase cooperation in the fields of research, education, culture, trade and investment in an uncertain economic environment due to the tariffs imposed by the United States.
Anwar and Prabowo also agreed to hold the 13th Malaysia-Indonesia Annual Consultations next month.
Touching on the Myanmar issue, Anwar said Malaysia was determined to resolve the dispute amicably and was supported by Indonesia, which has experience and expertise in conflict management.
“We also expressed concern about the border issue between Thailand and Cambodia and felt it was necessary to approach both countries to ease tensions,” said Anwar.
Anwar, who was in Jakarta on a one-day official visit, was accompanied by Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan; Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz; Minister of Higher Education Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir; Minister of Communications Datuk Fahmi Fadzil; and Minister of Plantations and Commodity Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani.
Anwar and the delegation returned to Kuala Lumpur from Halim Perdanakusuma Airport in East Jakarta around 5 pm local time after the meeting with Prabowo.
