[PUTRAJAYA] Singapore wants to make progress with Malaysia on longstanding bilateral issues such as airspace, water and maritime cooperation, even as it pursues new areas of collaboration, said Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on Tuesday (Jan 7).
These are PM Wong’s key priorities, which aim to further ties with Malaysia this year. This is on top of making sure that new projects such as the new Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ) and the upcoming Johor-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link are implemented effectively.
“As I mentioned, these are complex issues,” he said during an interview with Singapore media, after the 11th Malaysia-Singapore Leaders’ Retreat.
“We have made some progress, but we have not come to a resolution, understandably, because these are very complex and there will be differences of views.”
Nevertheless, he and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim are “fully committed to continuing the engagement and discussions”, the Singapore prime minister added.
“Hopefully, with nudging from the prime ministers, with the constant engagements we have and continued dialogue, we can see some progress by the next leaders’ retreat across all three bilateral issues.”
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New areas of cooperationThe latest edition of the leaders’ retreat was hosted by Malaysia and held in the nation’s administrative capital Putrajaya. Singapore will host the next retreat later this year, with the date yet to be announced.
At this retreat, progress was made on one major project that both countries are embarking on together. Singapore and Malaysia signed an agreement to establish the JS-SEZ on Monday, close to a year after the memorandum of understanding (MOU) was inked.
PM Wong said the agreement is “just the beginning” in making the economic zone a success. “We have to make sure that it is effectively implemented, and we see results.”
The same goes for the RTS Link, another major project which both countries are working on.
PM Wong said construction of the 4 km light rail to link Woodlands and Johor Bahru is “progressing very well” and is on track to be completed by the end of 2026.
It will be able to carry 20,000 passengers every hour, more than the current KTM Shuttle can manage in an entire day.
In the latest update, which was given last January, both transport ministries said the cross-border project had been 65 per cent completed as at Dec 31, 2023.
While progress is made on these new projects, Singapore also wants to pursue new areas of cooperation with Malaysia, said PM Wong.
This includes areas such as cross-border electricity trading, where there are bigger projects in the pipeline that will hopefully come into fruition, he said, on top of existing plans to import energy from Laos, Thailand and Malaysia to Singapore.
“Some of it is already flowing, but it’s quite small, and we really can do more there,” he added.
The MOUs exchanged by both sides to cooperate on cross-border electricity trading and renewable energy are part of these efforts.
“(The MOU on carbon capture) is just an MOU and we can potentially flesh out into cooperation on more concrete projects on sustainability and renewable energy,” said PM Wong.
Ensuring successAsked whether there were items on Singapore’s wish list that did not make it into the final agreement, PM Wong said that the agreement is a “good one between both sides” as it sets out the broad parameters for the zone.
Ultimately, the success of the project depends on how businesses respond to the new initiatives, he said.
So far, Singapore businesses have responded with a lot of interest. But the bigger plus factor would be for the zone to attract new investments, which would in turn make the SEZ more attractive, he added.
As for how both sides will ensure that key milestones are achieved, PM Wong said officials from both countries will follow through on the agreements.
Along the way, there will likely also be feedback from businesses on the measures in areas which were not anticipated.
“So we also need some degree of responsiveness to continuous feedback from the business community,” he said. “Both sides are committed to doing so – engaging the business community and working closely with them, and tracking progress in terms of new investments (and) new jobs created.”
Taking stock of Singapore and Malaysia’s relationship, which celebrates 60 years of bilateral ties this year, PM Wong said that he and PM Anwar have “built up a good friendship, a good rapport with one another, and it’s a relationship built on mutual trust and understanding”.
Still, he hopes to build on this strong foundation with more informal exchanges between officials, such as through reintroducing the Civil Service Games.
“It’s not always about officials coming together to talk business or negotiate and to engage on difficult issues. But informally as well, there is an opportunity for us to get together, relax, and get to know one another,” he said. “Hopefully, more of these exchanges can continue to happen across the board.”