KUCHING: A delegation from Indonesia made up of 35 officials, which were led by Consul-General of the Republic of Indonesia in Kuching, Jahar Gultom, had a meeting with Assistant Minister of Land and Air Transportation and Safety Datuk Lee Kim Shin at his office at Baitulmakmur here on Wednesday.
According to Lee, it was a follow-up to the first meeting which was held last October which agreed to form a working group to strengthen the ties between both sides as well as issues related to border trade, crossing, transportation, and many more.
“One of the subject matters that both sides agreed on was to upgrade the Tebedu-Entikong border to be an international gateway,” he said during a press conference.
The assistant minister said that the Border Trade Agreement, which was drawn up in 1970, has to be reviewed to keep up with the changing times.
“We feel that this agreement has to be reviewed because some are not relevant anymore to the present day needs,” he said.
However, Lee also said that this was a matter that should be brought up to the federal government of both countries.
“This is part of the plan towards globalisation and it shows that we are positive and serious about having better trading arrangements between both sides,” he said.
Meanwhile, Jahar said that in relation to the fast development happening between Sarawak and Kalimantan, he feels that more international trading needs to be encouraged.
“We cannot do this ourselves as we need the help of the federal governments to double trade between not only both sides, but also to sell to the international market,” said Jahar.
Also present during the press conference was Ministry of Infrastructure Development and Transportation Permanent Secretary Safri Zainudin.
