Indonesia, the largest economy in Southeast Asia, has given Malaysian agencies official permission to enter its airspace to conduct cloud seeding operations, Malaysia's environment minister said on Monday, part of both countries' efforts to combat the haze blanketing the region.

Authorities say many landowners are lighting fires for land clearing, sending massive plumes into the atmosphere that are choking swathes of South-East Asia.

The Malaysian prime minister and the Brunei sultan aim to use “the ASEAN mechanism” in a bid to find a solution for the recurring problem of transboundary haze from Indonesian…