KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is ready to hold talks with Indonesia over the mutual recognition of vaccination certificates issued through each country’s monitoring apps – MySejahtera (Malaysia) and PeduliLindungi (Indonesia).
Foreign minister Saifuddin Abdullah said the mutual recognition of the certificates will contribute towards the gradual reopening of the countries’ borders and stimulate economic and trade activities on both sides.
“Malaysia also welcomes the proposal to roll out travel bubbles like the reciprocal green lane (RGL), travel corridor arrangements (TCA) and vaccinated travel lane (VTL),” he said to the media after meeting his Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi in Jakarta on Monday.
Saifuddin is currently in Jakarta for a four-day visit beginning Sunday, the first since he returned to the foreign minister portfolio on Aug 30.
“Currently, the travel bubble can prioritise cross-border travel for official and business undertakings, and slowly open for other fields like education and tourism,” he said.
During his meeting with Retno, Saifuddin also conveyed Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s wish to make his inaugural official visit to Indonesia soon.
Malaysia is hopeful that the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between both sides in the field of education will be signed during Ismail’s visit to Indonesia, he said.
On the recruitment of Indonesian manpower including domestic helpers, Saifuddin was confident that both sides would be able to finalise MoUs on the recruitment, repatriation and protection of Indonesian domestic workers in Malaysia.
On undocumented Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia, he said Malaysia extends its appreciation to Indonesia on its commitment and cooperation in facilitating their repatriation.
“We hope that Indonesians in Malaysia will make use of the return recalibration programme (PRP) and manpower recalibration programme (PRTK) now extended to the end of 2021 to return home voluntarily or work legally in Malaysia,” he said.
Saifuddin said Malaysia would continue working with Indonesia to ensure migrant workers’ children have access to education, including through the establishment of alternative learning centres like expatriate schools and community learning centres.