Foreign Minister Sugiono: Prabowo And PM Anwar Discuss RI-Malaysia Trade Obstacles

Malaysian Prime Minister (PM) Anwar Ibrahim visited the Jakarta Palace to meet President Prabowo Subianto on Tuesday 29 July 2025. (Instagram @kemensetneg.ri)

JAKARTA - Indonesian Foreign Minister (Menlu) Sugiono said President Prabowo Subianto and Malaysian Prime Minister (PM) Anwar Ibrahim discussed trade barriers that still apply to the two countries, including steps to resolve the problem.

The issue of trade constraints is one of the issues discussed by two state leaders when the two met in the 13th Annual Consultation of Indonesia and Malaysia at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, Tuesday, July 29.

"So, we were conveyed at the bilateral meeting that there was an increase in the number and value of trade, then several things that became barriers (obstacles, ed.) between the trade between the two countries were also asked to be resolved so that there was greater interaction in the trade sector," said Foreign Minister Sugiono to reporters when met after the meeting at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, Tuesday, July 29, was confiscated by Antara.

Foreign Minister Sugiono believes that Indonesia and Malaysia as neighboring and neighboring countries are also members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) need to improve trade relations, especially in the midst of the policy on the import rate of US President Donald Trump who is also targeting ASEAN member countries.

Sugiono assessed that ASEAN, including Indonesia and Malaysia as the founding countries of associations, had the power to face various global trade pressures.

"So, like this, we actually have an inherent strength. This ASEAN community is 680 million, it is a large population when viewed from the producer side and the consumer side. Why is this huge potential, in addition to several other advantages that we have, we do not take advantage of together. So, there is something, I have also conveyed this at the time of AMM in Kuala Lumpur. There is a common awareness that we have a great economic potential. Let us work together more closely to be able to exploit our potential, "said Sugiono.

AMM or ASEAN Foreign Ministerial Meeting is a meeting of foreign ministers throughout ASEAN which is held regularly every year in the ASEAN Summit series. AMM 58th took place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on July 8, 2025.

At the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, today, the Consultation for the 13th Anniversary of Indonesia and Malaysia took place in two sessions, namely a one-on-one meeting between President Prabowo Subianto and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in the office of the President of the Republic of Indonesia, then followed by a bilateral meeting between the delegation of the Government of the Republic of Indonesia and the Government of Malaysia, which was packaged in a joint lunch format.

In a bilateral meeting at the Merdeka Palace today, President Prabowo was accompanied by a number of ministers of the Red and White Cabinet, namely Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hartarto, Minister of Home Affairs Tito Karnavian, Minister of Foreign Affairs Sugiono, Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin, Minister of State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi, Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya, and Head of the State Intelligence Agency M. Herindra.

Meanwhile, PM Anwar was accompanied by Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohamad Hasan, Minister of Home Affairs Saifuddin Nasution, Minister of Investment, Trade, and Industry Tengku Zafrul Aziz, and Minister of Education Fadhlina Sidek. There is also the Head of Sarawak Abang State Johari Openg and high-ranking state Sabah Hajiji Noor.