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Indonesia, Malaysia to talk mutual recognition for COVID-19 tests, vaccination
The two neighboring countries are slated to discuss detailed arrangements for setting up a travel corridor when the newly installed Malaysian Prime Minister visits Jakarta in November.
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A woman uses the PeduliLindungi COVID-19 tracking app to scan a QR code for proof of vaccination to gain entry to a shopping mall in this undated file photograph. (Kontan/Fransiskus Simbolon)
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akarta and Kuala Lumpur are discussing mutual recognition of COVID-19 vaccine certification ahead of Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s inaugural visit to Indonesia next month.
With their special relationship often referred to as serumpun (kinship), reciprocal visits are traditionally the first order of business for newly elected leaders of the two nations.
Malaysian Minister of Foreign Affairs Saifuddin Abdullah visited Jakarta earlier this week to meet with Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, after which he made a courtesy call to the President to discuss preparations for Yaakob’s upcoming visit.
In a press release issued by his office, Jokowi expressed his hope of reaching an agreement on a travel corridor arrangement as well as mutual recognition for the vaccine certificates and digital COVID-19 tracking platforms of the two neighboring countries.
In a joint statement after the foreign ministers’ meeting, Retno said the two sides had agreed to eliminate vaccine discrimination and to uphold equitable recognition of all vaccines on the emergency use listing (EUL) of the World Health Organization (WHO).
“To that end, we discussed the importance of the two countries mutually recognizing [each other’s] vaccine certificates,” Retno said. She added that the two foreign ministers had also agreed to mutually recognize COVID-19 test results.
Read also: Data sharing, common health standards key to ASEAN pandemic response: Ministers
