PARLIAMENT: MALAYSIA, BRUNEI IN FINAL NEGOTIATION ON LAND BORDER - MOHAMAD

KUALA LUMPUR, July 16 (Bernama) -- Malaysia and Brunei are currently in negotiation to finalise agreement or memorandum of understanding (MoU) regarding land border demarcation between the two countries covering a distance of 528.45 kilometres (km).

Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan said for the time being, the marking and measurement works in the field have been successfully carried out by both countries covering a distance of 175.96 km or 33.3 per cent of the entire border distance.

"Both parties are trying to resolve the demarcation issue based on the agreed timeline, which is 2034 at the latest. Malaysia will continue to negotiate with Indonesia and Brunei through the existing bilateral mechanism to finalise land and maritime demarcation," he said.

He was replying a question by Datuk Henry Sum Agong (GPS-Lawas) about the government's efforts in determining the land and maritime borders between Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia during a question and answer session in the Dewan Rakyat, today.

In addition, he said Malaysia has signed a total of 33 land border agreements or MoUs and nine maritime treaties regarding Malaysia's borders with neighbouring countries so far.

Mohamad said for the border between Malaysia and Indonesia, the border distance that has been finalised is 1,943.2km which is 94.2 per cent of the 2,064km through the signing of 22 agreements and MoUs.

"Meanwhile, for the latest maritime demarcation, the two countries have signed the Straits of Melaka treaty and the Sulawesi Sea treaty on June 8, 2023 in Putrajaya. This treaty will be fully enforced and implemented after both parties complete their respective internal processes," he said.

Replying to Henry's supplementary question regarding the issue of long queues for vehicles entering and exiting the border of Brunei and Sabah, Mohamad said the matter had been brought up in a bilateral meeting between Malaysia and Brunei to discuss solutions regarding immigration management issues and the number of checkpoints.

"Negotiation after negotiation has been held and next week, God willing, I will be in Brunei for us to hold an exchange of letters meeting.

"Recently the senior officers of the Malaysian and Brunei governments have held negotiations so that we can reach a consensus to continue to ensure the understanding of the two countries regarding the land demarcation between Malaysia and Brunei," he said.

Mohamad also said that the ministry always takes a cautious approach involving issues of national sovereignty and any signing of maritime or land demarcation agreements will only be implemented after taking into account all sensitive matters including the state government.

-- BERNAMA