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Indonesia, Malaysia to open travel corridor next year
The leaders of Indonesia and Malaysia have announced that they would “gradually” reopen their borders in a vaccinated travel lane (VTL) for essential travel, to be launched as early as next year.
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Indonesian President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob wave during their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Bogor, Indonesia, November 10, 2021. (Reuters/Courtesy of Laily Rachev/Indonesia's Presidential Palace)
T
he leaders of Indonesia and Malaysia announced on Wednesday that they have agreed to “gradually” reopen their borders with a travel corridor arrangement between Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta and Bali while also prefacing that both sides would take their time to implement the initiative.
Officials from the two countries have been in talks for some time to launch the initiative amid gradually improving COVID-19 conditions in the wider Southeast Asia region.
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo hosted Malaysia’s new Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob at the Bogor Palace in West Java on Wednesday.
It was Sabri’s first meeting with Jokowi since taking office in August, following the political turmoil that forced the hand of Malaysia’s king to appoint him to replace ousted premier Muhyiddin Yassin.
In a statement issued after their meeting, Jokowi said they spoke “very openly and friendly” about various bilateral issues, specifically the protection of Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia, economic cooperation and border negotiations, as well as regional issues, including the situation in Myanmar and the South China Sea.
The President said the neighbors had seen a significant year-on-year increase in trade this year, up to 49 percent in the January-August period.
The value of two-way trade for the entirety of 2020 reached US$15.67 billion, according to official records.
