Indonesia and Malaysia are holding discussions to finalize a reciprocal agreement as a prerequisite to the granting of landing rights to the two countries' satellites, an official said Tuesday.

"The reciprocal agreement is designed to give the two countries equal opportunities in providing satellite services," said Gatot Dewa Broto, a spokesman of the postal service and telecommunication directorate at the Information and Communication Ministry.

The agreement will allow satellites from the two neighbors to operate in each other's space, he said, adding that under the existing regulation, each telecommunication operator using a foreign satellite must secure a landing right by June 2007 at the latest.

"Foreign satellite will not be allowed to operate in Indonesia unless the telecommunication operator secures the landing right," he was quoted by the national Antara news agency as saying.

Gatot confirmed that the two sides had signed a memorandum of understanding, saying that they must soon follow it up so that the reciprocal agreement could be signed soon.

Source: Xinhua