KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 5): Malaysia has officially expanded its territory by approximately 780 hectares following the completion of joint re-measurement and re-demarcation works along unresolved sections of the Malaysia–Indonesia border, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced.
The additional land was confirmed after both countries resolved long-standing Outstanding Boundary Problem (OBP) areas at Sungai Sinapad and Sungai Sesai, resulting in Kampung Kabulangalor, Kampung Lepaga and Kampung Tetagas being formally recognised as part of Sabah.
Addressing Parliament during a special Dewan Rakyat briefing on Wednesday, Anwar dismissed allegations that Malaysia had relinquished more than 5,000 hectares of land to Indonesia as compensation.
“Claims that Malaysia ceded 5,207 hectares in exchange for three villages in Nunukan are false, misleading and irresponsible,” he said, adding that the outcome reflects a net territorial gain for Malaysia.
According to the prime minister, joint investigations, boundary markings and technical re-measurements were carried out by Malaysian and Indonesian mapping authorities, concluding in August 2022 and October 2023 respectively. These efforts resulted in a mutually agreed final boundary distance of 11.545 kilometres for the Sungai Sinapad–Sungai Sesai sector.
In a separate OBP involving Pulau Sebatik, re-demarcation exercises conducted between February and November 2019 established a final boundary length of 23.842 kilometres, measured from the East Pillar to the New West Pillar.
Anwar emphasised that all boundary negotiations were conducted in close consultation with the Sabah state government before being formalised at the federal level and later endorsed at the 45th Indonesia–Malaysia Joint Border Committee Meeting on Feb 18, 2025.
“Through the memorandum of understanding signed at the meeting, Malaysia secured an additional five hectares in the Sebatik OBP and approximately 780 hectares in the Sungai Sinapad–Sungai Sesai area,” he said.
The disputed Sungai Sinapad–Sungai Sesai zone, spanning sectors B2700 to B3100 and covering nearly 5,987 hectares, had historically been administered by Indonesia due to unresolved colonial-era mapping.
“Although the area appeared to fall under Indonesian administration, the boundary was never formally finalised. Malaysia did not agree to that interpretation, even though the matter was not actively disputed since 1915,” Anwar explained.
While the announcement primarily concerns national sovereignty and border governance, clarity over territorial boundaries also plays a long-term role in land administration, planning and investment certainty — factors that underpin confidence in Malaysia’s broader property and development ecosystem.
In Peninsular Malaysia, where demand remains strong for commercial property in KL, office space in Bukit Jalil, and modern industrial land in Selangor, clearly defined land governance continues to support investor confidence. Established industrial corridors such as factory hubs in Puchong and industrial property in the Subang area benefit from the same principles of certainty and regulatory clarity that underpin national land management.
Philippines