INDONESIA, MALAYSIA STEP UP INVESTMENT COOPERATION

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, April 30 (Antara) - Indonesia and Malaysia have agreed to increase cooperation in the plantation and fishery sectors and to attract foreign direct investment to ASEAN countries, particularly to Indonesia and Malaysia.          Malaysia became the second-largest investing country in Indonesia after Singapore last year. Therefore, the Indonesian Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) offered Malaysia investment opportunities in the plantation and fishery sectors.          "Malaysian investment in Indonesia increased rapidly, registering a growth of 73 percent in 2015, compared to that in the previous year," BKPM Chief Franky Sibarani noted on the sidelines of an Indonesian-Malaysian investment forum in Kuala Lumpur on Friday.          The BKPM chief encouraged Malaysian plantation companies to expand their business not only in the oil palm plantation but also in the agricultural processing industry.          "Investors are interested in the development of oil palm plantation in Indonesia but they have to follow Agriculture Minister Decree No. 26/2007 which sets the maximum acreage at 100 thousand hectares," Franky stated.

INDONESIA, MALAYSIA TO FOSTER CLOSER TIES

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Feb 7 (Antara) -- Indonesian President Joko Widodo left Kuala Lumpur for Brunei Darussalam on Saturday, after a two-day state visit to Malaysia that is believed to have strengthened relations between the two neighboring countries.          According to Siti Muti'ah Setiawati, a lecturer of international relations at Gadjah Mada University (UGM), the president's visit to Malaysia will improve bilateral relations between the two nations.          Besides deliberating over economic cooperation, they also discussed issues related to common borders and migrant workers, which Indonesia has sent a large number of to Malaysia, so far.          In the economic field, they also discussed cooperation in investment, trade, banking, infrastructure, electricity, tourism and the automotive industry.          During his two-day visit, President Joko Widodo, better known as Jokowi, discussed bilateral issues with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, including maritime border cooperation, improving trade and investment, managing fishermen, sending migrant workers to Malaysia, and educating the children of Indonesian migrant workers in Sabah and Sarawak.