The occasion will be Muhyiddin’s first official overseas visit since assuming office in March last year, upon which Indonesia extended an invitation for an in-person meeting.

As two countries with a special relationship often referred to as serumpun (kinship), newly elected leaders from both sides have traditionally visited the other as the first order of foreign business after assuming office. Jokowi visited Kuala Lumpur in 2015 on his first overseas bilateral visit.

However, the pandemic and the ensuing global travel restrictions resulted in a delay in Muhyiddin’s own visit to Jakarta, although officials have ensured that this week’s courtesy call will be carried out under very strict health protocols. This includes keeping the premier’s entourage as small as possible to avoid possible viral transmission.

Malaysia’s top diplomat Hishammuddin Hussein and a small delegation of senior officials will be meeting Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi for talks on Thursday before the prime minister’s arrival later that day.

Muhyiddin is expected to meet Jokowi on Friday morning at the Presidential Palace.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said that since the meeting would be conducted on a one-to-one basis, the two leaders would be able to broach a wide range of subjects.

“It’s not very definite, but at least economic cooperation is going to be more prominent,” he told The Jakarta Post.

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Among the bilateral issues that Indonesia is expected to raise are the protection of Indonesian workers in Malaysia, economic and trade cooperation and talks of a COVID-19 travel corridor, Faizasyah said.

"They will also discuss various regional and global issues, including how to strengthen cooperation in addressing negative campaigns against palm oil and advancing it for sustainable development," he said on Wednesday.

Indonesia and Malaysia are the world’s two largest oil palm producers.

According to a statement by Malaysia's Foreign Ministry, the leaders are to compare notes on the challenges that the pandemic poses, and are likely to talk about a potential reciprocal green lane (RGL) scheme to support continued official and business travel.

Malaysia also expects the two countries to share best practices on vaccination. Indonesia began its immunization campaign in mid-January, with nearly 600,000 health workers already receiving their first shot of China’s CoronaVac vaccine.

“This knowledge-sharing initiative will benefit Malaysia, especially as we begin our own vaccination program in the near future,” the Malaysian ministry said in a statement.

As close neighbors, the two countries have had their share of problems over the years. During the pandemic last year, Malaysia implemented policies that irked Indonesian officials, including a travel ban in September that singled out some of the worst-hit countries, including Indonesia.

Read also: Malaysia and Indonesia, 63 years of kinship

Indonesia recently extended a ban on foreign visitors with the exception of high-ranking foreign officials as a means to prevent the spread of the newer and more infectious strains of COVID-19.

In addition to raising the topic of pandemic responses, the ministry confirmed that the leaders would be discussing the problem faced by palm oil, a strategic commodity that will play an important role in the economic recovery of the two nations.

This may include efforts to combat the international discrimination against palm oil and its derivative products.

In December, ASEAN upgraded its relations with the European Union after years of reservations from Indonesia and Malaysia, due to the supranational organization’s policy on palm oil that categorizes it as unsustainable and lays out plans to phase out its use in biofuels by 2030.

Muhyiddin is also expected to raise the possibility of involving Malaysian businesses in Jokowi’s ambitious plan to relocate the capital from Jakarta to East Kalimantan.

Meanwhile, analysts have their own opinions on what subjects the two countries should raise.

Begina Pakpahan, a political economy expert from the University of Indonesia, said that economic recovery should be a top priority for the two leaders, especially when it comes to activating subregional connectivity.

“This is important for trade, specifically since the pandemic has closed down borders,” he told the Post.

Read also: Malaysia’s declaration of emergency keeps Muhyiddin’s window open

Migrant Care executive director Wahyu Susilo said talks on a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the placement of domestic workers should be another priority issue, considering the last deal expired five years ago.

“It should be one of the priorities because we’ve been sending workers to Malaysia without [...] legal basis,” he said on Wednesday.

Teuku Rezasyah from Padjadjaran University said other outstanding issues to discuss included negotiations on maritime and land border delimitation.

As two democratic countries, Indonesia and Malaysia must also discuss ways to engage with Myanmar, whose government has just been toppled by a military junta.

“As ASEAN countries, they know how to engage with Myanmar in a way that is not antagonistic but more conciliatory,” Rezasyah told the Post on Wednesday.