The Jakarta Post
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search results
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search resultsMalaysia and Indonesia, 63 years of kinship
One of the more current challenges that we face together is on the increasingly disturbing discrimination against palm oil.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Set as preferred source
T
he month of August will always represent a significant milestone for Indonesia and Malaysia. It marks the celebration of Independence Day of Indonesia and Malaysia, and as its founding members, the anniversary of ASEAN, an organization that continues to advance the growth of the region.
More importantly, and in the context of our presence in Jakarta and other important cities in Indonesia, we celebrate the establishment of our official diplomatic relations immediately after Malaysia gained its independence on Aug. 31, 1957.
Historically, our relations with Indonesia can be traced to as far as the 7th century when both countries were part of the ancient empires and kingdoms of Majapahit, Aceh, Srivijaya and Johor-Riau. Some of the ethnic groups, including Minang, Bugis and Javanese had migrated to the Malay Peninsula and formed significant communities in modern day Malaysia.
The shared history results in many similarities between Malaysia and Indonesia, be them in religion, culture, history and language. These commonalities facilitate unique sociocultural relations, and allow for a special relationship often referred to as serumpun (kinship). We see each other as our closest friend, a strategic partner and an important neighbor.
Bilateral ties have continued to be fundamentally strong. Our cooperation with Indonesia continues to expand, generating greater trust and mutual benefits for both countries. There is strong commitment on both sides to further strengthen our relations at every level and in all fields.
This has been demonstrated through active engagements between both sides, where high level exchanges continue to shape the framework for Malaysia-Indonesia relations moving forward.
As leaders of both countries provide a sound framework for the relations to prosper, economic cooperation has greatly benefitted both sides. Bilateral trade between the two countries stood at US$16,805 billion in 2019. Indonesia is currently Malaysia’s ninth-largest trading partner and the third largest among ASEAN countries. Malaysia is the fifth-largest investor in Indonesia with investment over $15 billion in areas such as banking, plantation, construction, toll-road, transportation, food industry, chemicals, oil and gas, energy, as well as telecommunications.
