KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 23 — The decision to postpone the High-Speed Rail (HSR) project by the Malaysian and Singapore governments should not cause any tension in bilateral relations, said Economic Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali.
The deferment of the project to a reasonable time was agreed to by both sides and it was not a unilateral decision, he said.
“I can understand the concern expressed by Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in the event both countries can’t achieve any resolution or any agreement on that particular project.
“But, now, we have reached a decision in a cordial manner. We look forward to resuming the project in 2020 and that was agreed to by both parties,” he said to reporters at the Parliament lobby today.
The Straits Times newspaper of Singapore reported Lee as having said that “the High-Speed Rail (HSR) was an issue potentially, but we worked out a two-year deferment for the HSR project and that was a constructive resolution of what could have been a spiky dispute”. — Bernama
