Jakarta. Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim says he is the first world leader to congratulate president-elect Prabowo Subianto after the official results by the election commission KPU are out.

Anwar revealed he had already contacted Prabowo in his official account on social media platform X. The Malaysian politician uploaded the post on Thursday at 12.04 a.m., just a few hours after KPU declared Prabowo as the winner.

“I was told that I was the first leader to congratulate him after the announcement of the official election results just now. This is quite meaningful because it represents the friendship between Malaysia and Indonesia that is truly special as close and important neighbor countries,” Anwar wrote.

Anwar also wished Prabowo good luck.

“I’m confident Mr. Prabowo will definitely be able to carry out the given mandate with excellence for the continued progress and prosperity of the Indonesian nation,” Anwar said.

He added: “Both of us are determined to strengthen bilateral relations that cover various aspects as neighboring countries and pledge to cooperate closely in various multilateral forums, especially within the scope of ASEAN.”

Last September, Anwar flew to Jakarta to attend the ASEAN Summit. Indonesia at the time was chairing the Southeast Asian bloc. The current chair Laos will pass the baton to Malaysia next year.

Government data shows Indonesia-Malaysia totaled $23.2 billion in 2023, down from $27.9 billion the previous year. Malaysia was Indonesia’s fifth-biggest source of foreign direct investment (FDI), reaching $4.1 billion. Some Malaysian companies, including property developer Boustead Properties, have shown interest in investing in Indonesia’s new capital Nusantara.

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