PUTRAJAYA, Feb 6 — Bilateral trade between Malaysia and Indonesia will fall short of its target of US$30 billion (RM106.4 billion) this year, as the governments of both countries work towards encouraging more cross-border investment, Datuk Seri Najib Razak said today.
The prime minister said both he and Indonesian President Joko Widodo agree on the need to expand on trade and investment, as the estimated trade value in 2014 was just a little over halfway to this year's goal.
“Our estimated trade in 2014 is at US$18.25 billion, so it is not possible for us to reach US$30 billion this year,” Najib said at a joint-news conference with Joko here.
Najib, who is also finance minister, said Malaysia has invested some US$3.97 billion in Indonesia between 2008 and September 2014, while Indonesian investments in Malaysia were valued at US$1.89 billion over the same period.
He noted that one way they can boost trade not only between the two countries but through the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is by setting up a common time zone.
Apart from showing ASEAN solidarity, Najib said it would ease integration of capital markets and business management between the 10 member countries.
“In principle, the president has agreed to discuss this issue seriously and hopefully we can get a consensus to launch this initiative,” he said, referring to Joko.
ASEAN common time has been a recurring subject of discussion from the time it was first mooted in 1995.
Malaysia revived the proposal in 2004, and again resurfaced this year when Malaysia assumes chairmanship of the regional body.
Member countries over the years have indicated their readiness to consider the proposal, but there has yet to be any consensus on which timezone to adopt.
