ANKARA

Indonesia and Malaysia agreed Tuesday to increase bilateral trade to $30 billion as their leaders met in Jakarta to discuss ties, including border issues.

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto hosted Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in Jakarta for an annual meeting.

Anwar, who arrived in Indonesia on Monday, was welcomed by Prabowo at the presidential palace in Jakarta.

"We touched on many important issues today, involving a trade target of USD30 billion between the two countries, cooperation in investment in the Nusantara Capital City (IKN), smoother cross-border access at Entikong, and the need to finalize long-pending land and maritime border agreements," Anwar wrote on X.

Trade between the two countries stood $25.5 billion in 2024.

Anwar said they also discussed security issues and agreed to expand cooperation through the framework of the Trilateral Cooperative Arrangement (TCA) to maintain peace on the Sulu and Sulawesi seas.

The two leaders also agreed to raise a united voice on global issues, such as the anti-palm oil campaign and "atrocities" in the Gaza Strip.

Prabowo said they reaffirmed the importance of strengthening cooperation in various strategic fields and collaborating to address increasingly complex regional and global challenges.

The two countries held a high-level annual consultative meeting in Sarawak in 2017, led by then-President Joko Widodo and then-Prime Minister Najib Razak.

*Writing by Islamuddin Sajid