Foreign affairs ministry secretary-general Muhammad Shahrul Ikram Yaakob said a follow-up was required to fine-tune the standard operating procedures involved.

“The scheme will be implemented once Malaysian and Indonesian health authorities deem it appropriate after a follow-up,” he said in an interview with Bernama today.

However, he said the RGL will not be open to all as it is only to facilitate travel for government officials and investors so as to enhance trade, particularly in regard to high-value deals.

Shahrul said this when commenting on the outcome of Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s one-day official visit to Indonesia for a meeting with President Joko Widodo yesterday.

According to him, the two leaders also discussed palm oil and the discrimination against it shown by European countries.

“Indonesia and Malaysia are the biggest producers of palm oil. We have 600,000 workers in the industry in Malaysia alone.

“It would be less effective if both countries don’t handle this discrimination issue jointly.

“So, the two leaders have agreed to work together to strengthen existing platforms such as the Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries.”

He said the two leaders also discussed and agreed to jointly resolve environmental issues such as the seasonal transboundary haze.

He said although the leaders have reached a consensus, it did not mean the issues have been resolved as follow-ups were still essential at ministerial and working committee levels.

Indonesia is Malaysia’s ninth largest trading partner globally and the third largest among Asean countries.

In 2020, total trade reached RM66.17 billion while Malaysia’s total investment in Indonesia is the second largest at RM4.2 billion.