ID :
366029
Tue, 05/05/2015 - 05:08
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High Speed Rail, RTS - Top On Agenda During Leaders Retreat In Singapore: Envoy

By Tengku Noor Shamsiah Abdullah SINGAPORE, May 5 (Bernama) -- Malaysian Prime Najib Razak is making a two-day working visit to Singapore beginning Monday for the Singapore-Malaysia Leaders' Retreat with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, said Malaysian High Commissioner to Singapore Husni Zai Yaacob. Najib will be accompanied by his wife and a high-level delegation comprising several Malaysian Cabinet Ministers and senior officials. Husni Zai said amongst the agenda would be a review of issues raised and agreed upon at the last Retreat in Putrajaya in April 2014. "Both sides are committed to achieving all the agreements reached at the previous Retreat. Adjustments and fine-tuning will be discussed to ensure the successful completion of the agreements. "One issue high on the agenda is improved connectivity, particularly the High Speed Rail (HSR) and Rapid Transit System (RTS). Singapore is expected to announce its terminus at the Retreat," he told a press conference to Malaysian reporters here. Husni Zai said: "This would tie nicely with our announcement last year that Bandar Malaysia will be our terminus." "We also expect other details on the HSR to be announced by both sides. Another issue on connectivity are measures to ease congestions at the Causeway and Second Link. "Through the Immigration Workshop, both sides have agreed to reduce congestion through a number of measures," he said. The envoy said Malaysia would also like to explore other options to ease congestion, such as a new bridge connecting the two borders. Husni Zai said both leaders would discuss the importance of strengthening bilateral economic cooperation, especially the work done by the Industrial Cooperation Work Group (ICWG) under the Joint Ministerial Committee on Iskandar Malaysia, the main southern development corridor in Malaysia's southern state, Johor. He said ICWG is expected to continue strengthening the Malaysia-Singapore ecosystem through synergistic investment and cooperation linkages across both countries. Husni Zai said both sides will also touch on ASEAN, particularly Malaysia's chairmanship, ASEAN Community 2015 and ASEAN beyond 2015. Another issue that would be discussed, he said is security cooperation. He pointed both Defence Ministers have agreed in their meeting last month to encourage more military to military exchanges to address common security concerns. "We hope to see the signing of an MOU between the Malaysian National Security Council and the Singapore Civil Defence Force on Cooperation in Developing Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) Capabilities," he said adding that the MOU aims to further strengthen cooperation between the two agencies in terms of training, techniques and the sharing of information pertaining to USAR and disaster management. Husni Zai also said that both sides will also discuss on ways and the importance of deepening social and cultural ties between the two peoples. "Measures such as exchange of artworks between the National Visual Arts Gallery of Malaysia and the National Gallery of Singapore, exchange of animals between Zoo Negara Malaysia (Malaysia's national zoo) and Singapore Zoo, as well as Titian Budaya Malaysia-Singapore Cultural Showcase, are already underway to bolster ties of the two peoples." Touching on bilateral ties between the two neighbours, Husni Zai said, "Malaysia-Singapore relations are special and substantive. "As we celebrate 50 years of diplomatic relations in 2015, bilateral relations with Singapore are at an all-time high. Relations have improved and progressed tremendously as both sides are committed to mutually-beneficial relations. "Malaysia and Singapore cooperate on wide-ranging areas, from politics to economy, social, culture and other non-traditional areas," he said. According to him, one of the special features of our bilateral relations is the strong people to people ties. "This cooperation is not confined at bilateral level but also at regional and international levels," he added Going forward, Husni Zai said: "There are many areas that we can cooperate. "Connectivity, economic synergy and non-traditional areas of cooperation such as security and defence could be explored further for a win-win situation," he added. --BERNAMA

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