The commitment was emphasized by Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) while receiving a courtesy visit from Malaysian Foreign Affairs Minister Mohamad bin Hasan at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, on Tuesday.
"As close neighboring countries, there is no choice for us (but) to build strong cooperation," said Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi, who also attended the meeting.
Regarding the border issue, she informed that the two countries will try to conclude both land and sea border negotiations in keeping with the agreement reached by President Widodo and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in June 2023.
She and Hasan also discussed the importance of fulfilling the right of Indonesian migrant workers' children in Malaysia to access education.
"So far, there have been community learning centers (CLC) in Sabah and Sarawak. We hope that CLC can also be established in the Peninsular (Malaysia) area," Marsudi said.
The minister underscored the need to immediately implement a special bilateral mechanism between Indonesia and Malaysia to discuss the issues of migrant workers.
Meanwhile, regarding the economy, Marsudi emphasized Indonesia's strong commitment to continue to bolster economic cooperation with Malaysia, one of its biggest trade and investment partners.
"We also discussed how to optimize the economy in border areas," she added.
Hasan's visit to Indonesia was his first to the country after taking office as the Foreign Affairs Minister of Malaysia on December 12, 2023.
Earlier, Hasan served as the Minister of Defence in the administration of Prime Minister Ibrahim.
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Translator: Yashinta Difa, Raka Adji
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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