Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - The strong Malaysia-Indonesia relations cannot be eroded as the leaders of both countries have agreed to resolve all issues together in a harmonious manner.
Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said the long-established ties between the two countries would not be severed despite some painful situations that had occurred.
"The diplomatic ties between Indonesia-Malaysia still remain strong and at a commendable level.
"The location of our two countries is of strategic value for us to work together through sharing of resources and expertise, as well as complementing and assisting each other."
Muhyiddin said this in his speech at a dinner function and cultural performance organised by Kelantan Poverty Foundation (YKK) to commemorate 50 years of Malaysia-Indonesia diplomatic relations, here, Sunday night.
He said any conflict or controversy would not benefit any party, and it should be discussed in a spirit of goodwill and consensus to ensure actions taken would be two-way and through the negotation process.
The deputy prime minister said the Malaysian government would make
continuous effort to preserve harmony and the strategic and close bilateral relations between the two neighbours in various sectors to benefit both.
He said the tradition of the two countries` leaders visiting each other and holding meetings would continue and in fact encouraged, so that the close cooperation would extend to other levels like between the non-governmental organisations, employers, workers and the general public.
Media and telecommunications technology should also be used positively to foster closer relations between the two countries, he said.
In this context, he added, the media and bloggers played an important role to give an accurate picture on any issue and not to sensationalise it so as to maintain the cordial relations between the two countries.
On Malaysia-Indonesia economic cooperation, Muhyiddin said Indonesia was Malaysia`s third important trade partner among Asean countries where the bilateral trade had increased more than three-fold over a period of 10 years, from US$3.1 billion in 1999 to US$11.4 billion in 2009.
Malaysia-Indonesia bilateral trade in the first six months of this year was worth US$7.19 billion, which was 15.9 per cent of the total with Asean countries, compared with US$5.01 billion over the same period last year.
"This is more than half (at 63 per cent) than that recorded in 2009. The figure is expected to increase based on the average growth of 0.8 per cent in bilateral trade," said Muhyiddin.
He said Malaysia was the 10th biggest foreign investor in Indonesia with US$1.6 billion worth of investments up to last year while at the Asean level, Malaysia was the second biggest investor in Indonesia.
As for tourism, he said Indonesian tourist arrivals in Malaysia reached 2.5 million last year while there were about 10,000 Indonesians studying at higher learning institutions in Malaysia.
Indonesians also make up 51 per cent of foreign workers in Malaysia and they are found in various sectors.
"This shows that Malaysia practises the people-friendly principle towards foreigners, what more with people of the same ethnicity from Indonesia.
"It cannot be denied that Malaysia-Indonesia relations is very unique and important as the people of both countries are like one big family who share the same history, border, language and culture.
"These similarities should be an important factor for us to strengthen unity and cooperation between us," said Muhyiddin.
On Sunday night`s function, he said the government always encouraged such an activity and hoped it could be extended to other states in Malaysia and provinces in Indonesia.
The artistes who performed tonight were Malaysia`s King of Pop Jamal Abdillah and Indonesian entertainer Bob Tutopoly.
Also present were Indonesian ambassador to Malaysia Da`i Bachtiar, former Thai deputy prime minister Wan Mohamad Noor Matha and YKK founder Annuar Musa. (*)
Source: http://www.antaranews.com
