Indonesia and Malaysia sign MoU to boost rural development and trade

In Jakarta, Yandri Susanto, Indonesia's Minister of Villages and Development of Disadvantaged Regions, and Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister, signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at advancing rural development in both countries. The agreement covers a range of collaborative areas, including enhancing village management capacity, digitalisation, rural entrepreneurship, ecotourism, agrotourism, and vocational training for young people in villages.

It also seeks to address poverty alleviation and facilitate the exchange of data and experiences between the two nations. Susanto highlighted that the cooperation could be integrated into existing initiatives such as the export-village programme, citing the inaugural shipment of organic palm sugar from Pacitan District, East Java, to Malaysia. He added that the partnership may open new market opportunities for Indonesian village products and promote tourism-village exchanges. Both parties stressed the need to translate the MoU into concrete actions that improve livelihoods across Indonesia's 75,266 villages, many of which remain underdeveloped.