PUTRAJAYA: Singapore is open to new ideas including proposals on the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail (HSR) project at the upcoming 11th Malaysia-Singapore Leaders’ Retreat, said Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.
The new Prime Minister said that during the retreat, Singapore would take stock of the progress of the ongoing discussions between the two countries.
“And of course, along the way, there may be new ideas that come up, and we are open to hearing from Malaysia if there are proposals for the HSR project.
“Whatever the new ideas are, we will keep an open mind and we will discuss it in the right spirit of taking our relationship (further),” he told a joint press conference with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim here today.
Wong was responding to a question on whether the HSR project will be among the focus of the two countries to be discussed during the upcoming retreat.
The annual Leaders’ Retreat, which is the key platform for the two Prime Ministers to discuss bilateral issues and explore new areas of cooperation, will be hosted by Malaysia later this year.
The HSR project aims to slash travel time between Malaysia’s capital, Kuala Lumpur, and Singapore from around four hours by road to just 90 minutes by rail.
Originally scheduled to open in 2026 but cancelled in January 2021, the project was revived last year with the Malaysian government evaluating fresh concept proposals.
