Malaysia, Indonesia agree to increase trade, investment

KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysian and Indonesian leaders agreed on Friday to promote bilateral trade and investment growth.

At a joint press briefing with visiting Indonesian President Joko Widodo, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said, although the two-way trade target of $30 billion set earlier might not be achieved, the country's second priority is certain, that is to continue to promote trade and investment growth.

"At present, our statistics show Malaysia's investments in Indonesia stood at $3.97 billion between 2008 and September 2014 while that of Indonesia's in Malaysia were $1.89 billion," he said.

Widodo, who is on a three-day visit to Malaysia, said Indonesia is inviting Malaysian companies to invest in the development of infrastructure such as ports, railways, airports and energy plants.

Malaysia is one of the biggest trading partners of Indonesia with bilateral trade reaching $17 billion in 2013 and $16.6 billion last year.

Malaysians mostly invest in oil palm, banking, mining, telecommunications and health sectors in Indonesia.