Prime Ministers Lee Hsien Loong and Najib Razak will meet in Singapore next week for the Eighth Singapore-Malaysia Leaders’ Retreat, Malaysian Chinese-language daily Nanyang Siang Pau has reported.

The retreat, which will be held from Jan 15 to 16, was initially scheduled for last month. But Mr Najib had requested for the meeting to be postponed as he had to attend a special meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in Turkey on Dec 13.

A Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman had said then that both sides will fix a new date for the retreat.

Among the issues expected to be discussed in the upcoming meeting is the construction of the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail (HSR) and the Rapid Transit System (RTS) between Johor and the Republic.

Last month, both countries called a joint tender for the company that will design, build, finance and maintain the trains and rail assets of the HSR.

The HSR will shorten land-travel times between Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia and Jurong East in Singapore to 90 minutes, from about four hours by car.

The RTS link was announced by the Malaysian and Singaporean governments in 2010, to provide a much needed alternative to the tens of thousands of people who commute across the Causeway every day. It will transport up to 10,000 passengers an hour in each direction between the two cities.

The link will connect Woodlands in Singapore and Bukit Chagar in Johor Baru via a high bridge across the Straits of Johor.

In August last year, Johor Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar voiced his disagreement to the initial proposed design for the RTS, noting that the 30-metre track height and its curved design would disrupt Johor Baru's skyline.

He has since agreed to a revised design which will feature a straight bridge, Malaysia’s Land Public Transport Commission said in November.

Source:
courtesy of TODAY

by TodayOnline

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