PETTY ISSUES WILL NOT SOUR MALAYSIA-INDONESIA TIES, SAYS MALAYSIAN PM

PUTRAJAYA, Nov 12 (Bernama) -- Malaysia and Indonesia will not let petty
issues raised by certain quarters to sour ties between the two nations but will
instead further the work to strengthen the already close bilateral ties, Prime
Minister Najib Razak said Thursday.

Speaking at a joint media conference with visiting Indonesian President
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the prime minister said while certain quarters were
out to undermine ties between both countries, in reality, leaders of Malaysia
and Indonesia were close allies.

"Although we have a few outstanding issues, they should not take precedence
over the good things done by both governments in cementing the ties. We have had
close traditional ties like the visit of Indonesian leaders to Malaysia and
vice-versa.

"We are looking at forging closer interactions between centres... like media
to media, parliament to parliament and non-governmental organisations to
non-governmental organisations," he said.

Najib said that during a closed door meeting with the Indonesian president
this morning, both of them expressed the hope that more programmes could be
organised for the youths of both countries.

They also wanted to see economic ties to be further enhanced, he said.

Najib said while bilateral trade between the two countries were on the rise,
except for this year due to the global economic crisis, more needed to be done
to increase business activities between the two neighbours.

He said Malaysia hoped that more Indonesian corporations would invest in the
country as this too could help foster closer bilateral relations.

"We also spoke about food security and how we can invest together in this
area. Indonesia has the land and the manpower. We also spoke on energy security
where excess energy in Malaysia could be transferred to Indonesia, especially in
rural areas," the prime minister said.

He said that they also agreed that Malaysia and Indonesia, being the world's
largest and second largest palm oil producers respectively, jointly take action
to counter allegations by Western anti-palm oil lobbyists.

Others areas identified where the two nations could work together, said
Najib, was tourism and the halal food industry "where we have a joint interest."

"We have also agreed to establish more mechanisms that are institutionalised
so that proactive proposals can be acted upon fast.

"We have also agreed to attract more friends of Malaysia in Indonesia and
more friends of Indonesia in Malaysia. This will enable each country to obtain a
clear picture of what is happening in the other country should there be issues
cropping up from time to time," Najib said.

Taking questions from reporters, Najib stressed that while Malaysia
appreciated the presence of foreign workers, especially Indonesian foreign
workers in Malaysia, they would have to face the law of the land if they broke
the country's law.

"While we appreciate their presence, those who transgress the law will have
to pay for their deeds. The same goes for those who abuse their foreign workers,
including maids, even if they are Malaysian employers," he added.

The prime minister also said that the Malaysian government hoped that
Indonesian workers wanting to work in Malaysia would take the legal path in
securing their employment.

"If they come in illegally, then they stand a chance of being exploited by
certain quarters.

"We will be just and fair to all, including to Malaysian employers. Everyone
has to follow the law," he said.

Najib said: "We have had several high profile cases involving maid abuse. At
the same time we also hope that Indonesian workers will not break the law, or
they will have to face the consequences... the Indonesian government understands
this."

Describing his discussion with Susilo as meaningful, Najib said both sides
also agreed to create opportunities in areas like economy and food security.
-- BERNAMA