MALAYSIA-INDONESIA TIES TO BE STRENGTHENED FURTHER

PUTRAJAYA, April 7 (Bernama) -- The Malaysia-Indonesia bilateral relations
will be strengthened further through bilateral investment and economic
integration, Prime Minister Najib Razak said Tuesday.

He said that Malaysian and Indonesian investors should form partnerships
when investing in each other's country.

Apart from that, both countries could also look into the strategic
investment potential, for instance, in the electricity supply sector.

"In the future, we may be able to look at supplying electricity from the
Bakun hydroelectric project (in Sarawak) to Peninsular Malaysia or to Kalimantan
or having electricity from Indonesia exported to Malaysia," he said in an
interview with Indonesian journalists in his office here.

He said that another area where the private sector of both countries could
look into was the proposal by the Melaka state government to build a 60km bridge
connecting the state and Dumai in Indonesia.

The journalists are from the Sinar Harapan, Jakarta Post, Republika, Kompas,
Media Indonesia, Indonesian News Agency (Antara), Gatra magazine and RCTI, a
private television station.

The prime minister said that Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
contacted him over the telephone two nights ago, congratulating him over his
appointment as the sixth prime minister of Malaysia.

Najib said that Susilo wanted ties between Malaysia and Indonesia to be
further strengthened and expressed the hope that both countries achieve greater
progress in all fields.

The president also wanted personal ties between both leaders to be
maintained so that they could contact each other on the telephone if there were
issues needed to be resolved between both countries, he said.

Najib also said that he would meet Susilo at the Asean+3 summit in Pattaya,
Thailand, this weekend.

Asked on the issues to be discussed at the meeting, Najib said both
countries were enjoying good relations and that he did not foresee any
urgent matters or problems to be resolved during the meeting.

He nevertheless said that they might discuss issues related to Indonesian
workers in this time of global economic gloom.

He added that the Indonesian president had asked that his country be
notified if Malaysia was sending home Indonesian workers.

The economic crisis were also affecting Malaysian workers, Najib said,
adding that the RM60 billion (US$16.4 billion) economic stimulus package
announced recently was to spur growth and avoid retrenchment.

He hoped that the private sector would not retrench their workers except
when it was extremely necessary to do so.

Asked on ties among the younger generation of both countries, Najib said it
was important for them to understand each other as they would be the ones
leading their respective countries in the future.
-- BERNAMA