77th Anniversary of Indonesian Independence: Kalimantan wants to optimize the cross-border economy
KUCHING: In conjunction with the 77th Anniversary of the Independence of the Republic of Indonesia, the Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia (KJRI) Kuching hopes that strong cooperation between the governments in Kalimantan and Sarawak can be optimized.
The Consul General of Indonesia in Kuching, Raden Sigit Witjaksono said Indonesia and Sarawak have long shared a national border of more than 2,000 kilometers which can be of great social and economic benefit to the people on both sides.
As a group and living on the land of the Borneo Islands, Sarawak and Indonesia can form extensive cooperation not only to West Kalimantan but also to the Capital of the Archipelago in East Kalimantan in the field of energy production, infrastructure and export.
“This position on the border between Sarawak-Kalimantan will be maximized in terms of potential in various fields and economic sectors, and we know that Sarawak is very advanced in the field of energy production, then infrastructure development that can be implemented in collaboration including in the export industry.
“The main task of KJRI is to provide protection to the people of Indonesia, so what will be seen from the perspective of bilateral relations between the two countries of Malaysia and Indonesia is cooperation with Sarawak from stakeholders, entrepreneurs, as well as private parties that can mutually help advance both- two areas,” he said.
He said this during a press conference after attending the Ceremony to Commemorate the 77th Anniversary of the Independence of the Republic of Indonesia at the Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia (KJRI) in Kuching on Wednesday.
The ceremony was also attended by Indonesians working in Sarawak from various sectors and industries as well as students from the Community Learning Center (CLC).
After being postponed for two years, the official ceremony also saw the implementation of several important events including the ceremony of raising the Indonesian flag as well as the reading of the text and the Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia 1945.
Meanwhile, commenting on the application of Indonesian workers to Sarawak, Raden said the embassy in Kuala Lumpur had received a total of 23,000 applications for entry to Malaysia for the first group after the freeze period ended.
Of these, he said, 1,600 applications had been referred to KJRI in Kuching involving workers in several sectors in Sarawak who were also registered through the One Channel System (OCS) online system.
“However, so far we have not seen the physical entry of the workers who applied to Sarawak, because the OCS system is also monitored in Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta, so we will both ensure the welfare of these Indonesian workers in terms of recruitment, until they get a guaranteed job protection.
“All the protection for these workers including their other rights will ultimately benefit the companies involved because we all understand and feel the pressure of companies experiencing a significant lack of workers,” he continued.
source – Nuzuluddin Abdul Razak