KUALA LUMPUR: Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta today agreed that there should be a new memorandum of understanding (MoU) to protect Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia.
Foreign Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah said both countries are planning to ink the MoU next year.
“On migrant workers ... we agree that there will be a new MoU. Well you see, there will be a visit by Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo (to Kuala Lumpur).
“We will try to do it in January. We are looking at the dates. I can’t say which one. Hopefully during the visit, there will be one or two MoUs,” he told the media after attending the 16th Meeting of Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC) near here today. Also present was his Indonesian counterpart, Retno Marsudi.
Asked whether Malaysia was enforcing tougher policies and regulations on migrant workers, Saifuddin explained that the government’s objective was to resolve the recruitment process and decrease the number of foreign workers especially the illegal ones.
To a question whether today’s meeting had touched on the Asean car, he replied:
“Well we touch a little bit. Not in this meeting. But in other meetings. Not the electric car. I shall leave it the prime minister. I can’t say much, it’s beyond my portfolio,” he said. — Bernama
