KOTA KINABALU: Sabahans should feel encouraged with Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s recent visit to Indonesia as it involved talks on having Malaysian businesses help in the development of the country’s new capital in Kalimantan.
That and the joint efforts between the two countries to counter the anti-palm oil campaign was at the top of the agenda in talks between Muhyiddin and Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi), SAPP president Yong Teck Lee said.
“Both subject matters, palm oil and Kalimantan (which is Sabah’s neighbour in the south of Borneo) have an immense impact on the economic well-being of Malaysians, especially in Sabah,” he said in a statement today.
The former Sabah chief minister said another matter of significance discussed between the leaders was the setting up of a reciprocal green lane (RGL) for travel between Malaysia and Indonesia.
Yong chided critics for condemning the RGL as a “travel bubble” that is risky and premature.
“But the proposed RGL is not a free-for-all bubble. The RGL is being prepared to allow for travel from a Covid-19-free zone to another virus-free zone, without having to close the entire country to each other, for instance from Sabah to Kalimantan.
“It is for this same reason that the Sabah Association of Tour and Travel Agents has called for a study to include China and South Korea in a possible RGL with Malaysia, or parts of Malaysia,” Yong said.
He paid tribute to Muhyiddin for the latter’s foresight in planning ahead to ensure a strong and urgent economic recovery for the country as soon as the pandemic subsides.
Muhyiddin, who made the one-day working visit last week, had said his visit had been meaningful and had further strengthened bilateral ties between Malaysia and Indonesia.
The prime minister made the visit at the invitation of Jokowi, as it is customary for leaders of Indonesia and Malaysia to visit each other at the first available opportunity after assuming office. - FMT
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