JAKARTA – Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on Friday (June 29) called for further strengthening of bilateral ties between Malaysia and Indonesia, reviving the idea of a joint automobile project as he was given a red carpet welcome by President Joko Widodo.

"I hope the friendship (between the two countries) can be maintained and strengthened," he said in a joint press conference with Mr Widodo at the Bogor Presidential Palace in conjunction with his two-day official visit to Indonesia which ended on Friday evening.

He said both countries have much to gain from working together in the areas of politics, economy and international relations.

Underlining his desire to forge close ties with Indonesia, the Malaysian leader said he picked it for his first official visit to a South-east Asian country because it is Malaysia's "closest neighbour", and the two countries have a "family relationship".

"This is not something rare... in fact, a lot of Malaysians originally are from Indonesia, including my father-in-law."

Dr Mahathir's comments clearly struck a cord with Mr Widodo, who took to Twitter on Friday evening to cite them.

"The first overseas visit by Bapak Mahathir Mohamad since he became the new prime minister is to Indonesia. His reason is because Indonesia is a close neighbour and have family relationship," wrote Mr Widodo.

Earlier, Dr Mahathir and his wife, Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali, were accorded an official welcome at the palace where he was greeted by Mr Widodo and his spouse, Iriana Joko Widodo. 

Clad in a dark lounge suit, Dr Mahathir then inspected a guard-of-honour mounted by the Indonesian Presidential Security Force and shook hands with children waving Malaysian flags.

The Star Online reported that it was the same welcome Dr Mahathir had received 24 years ago on his last official visit when Suharto was President.

Dr Mahathir, smiling and looking relaxed, was later invited by Mr Widodo for a brief chat at the palace verandah, in what was essentially a photo opportunity for the media.

The two leaders also planted a meranti tree sampling on the palace grounds to commemorate the visit, which kicked off on Thursday when Mr Widodo personally received Dr Mahathir upon his arrival at the airport in what Malaysia had described as a "rare honour".

During the joint press conference, Dr Mahathir said he was "very impressed" with the warm welcome accorded by Indonesia, describing it as extraordinary.

He also recalled how he and Mr Widodo discussed the possibility of developing a joint car in 2015, when the Indonesian leader was in Kuala Lumpur for a visit.

"But because of certain reasons we could not continue with it, but now, we want to revive the project," said Dr Mahathir, adding that the aim was for the end product to be sold across the region. 

In early 2015, Malaysia's Proton - then chaired by Dr Mahathir - had signed a memorandum of understanding with Indonesia’s PT Adiputra Citra Lestari to further “business opportunities between both companies” and possibly in jointly developing and manufacturing a car.

The MOU signing was witnessed by Dr Mahathir, Mr Widodo and then Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak but the project eventually stalled due to Proton's restructuring.

On Friday, Dr Mahathir recalled how during the 2015 visit, he had test driven a Proton car at the Sepang race circuit, with Mr Widodo as a passenger.

"It was a fast undulating track. The President did not complain at all," he said, to laughter from Mr Widodo.

Mr Widodo said he was not worried although Dr Mahathir drove at 180kph.

"It was very fast but I had no fear because Dr Mahathir was behind the wheel. I think I will be afraid if he was not driving," he said.

"We have discussed a lot of issues and we have the same commitment on good governance, fighting corruption, enhancing connectivity and resolving border issues," added Mr Widodo, who in his opening remarks earlier, had said Indonesia was "honoured" to be the first Asean country that Dr Mahathir chose to visit after being appointed as prime minister following the May 9 general election.

Besides the joint car project, Dr Mahathir also cited the palm oil industry as another area where Malaysia and Indonesia could work together. The two countries are among the world's biggest producers of palm oil.

Dr Mahathir said both countries should work together to counter claims in Europe that rising palm oil demand was fuelling illegal deforestation in Malaysia and Indonesia.

Citing environmental concerns, European Union lawmakers have voted to ban the use of palm oil in all European biofuels by 2020.

Palm oil is used in a wide range of products from chocolate to shampoo and the industry has come under scrutiny in recent years as it is often blamed for causing deforestation and forest fires.

Dr Mahathir said the concerns over the palm oil industry were "not true", adding: "Maybe their objection is from an economic and finance point of view as they know our palm oil is going against rapeseed and soybean seed."

He also said it was Europe that actually no longer had many forest-covered areas as most of its trees had been cut down.          

"However, nobody argues with them about it. But when we clear our land they say it pollutes the climate," said the 92-year-old premier, who recently came back to power in Malaysia after a shock election victory.

The two leaders also signalled a desire to resolve outstanding maritime and land border issues, including overlapping claims over the oil and gas-rich Ambalat, which lies east of the Indonesian province of North Kalimantan and south-east of the Malaysian state of Sabah.

“We decided that this problem cannot be (resolved) alone, but we have already started the approach and we need to accept that the Indonesia and Malaysia must cooperate, like how Malaysia is cooperating with Thailand, where we have a joint development area,” said Dr Mahathir, referring to how Malaysia and Thailand had set up a Joint Authority to explore resources in disputed territories in the Gulf of Thailand. AGENCIES

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