S'pore helps to develop Johor Baru
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
SINGAPORE agreed yesterday to work with Malaysia in a $105 billion development of Malaysia's southern Johor state, after talks aimed at rekindling warm relations between the two neighbours.
Late last year, Malaysia unveiled an ambitious two-decade blueprint to harness mostly private capital to turn 2,200 square km of the state into an industrial and tourism zone, and state capital Johor Baru into a new Asian boom town.
"Singapore has made an assessment and decided it is fundamentally good for us if this project takes off," Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said after meeting his Malaysian counterpart on the Malaysian resort island of Langkawi.
"It will complement Singapore," said the leader. The Johor plan implies heavy investment from neighbouring Singapore, which lies about a kilometre away from Johor Baru. Lee had said in December there were "mixed signals" from Malaysia about the extent to which Singapore investors were welcome.
However, after a two-hour breakfast meeting with Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi yesterday, the pair had agreed to form a joint ministerial panel to ensure cooperation in the so-called "Iskandar Development Region" or IDR.
Lee referred to the elder Abdullah by an affectionate nickname, Pak Lah or "uncle", at a joint news conference.
"I have suggested to Pak Lah, who agreed, that we should set up a ministerial committee to oversee the joint cooperation in the IDR," Lee said, adding that the panel could look into issues like joint tourism promotion and access into the zone.
The Iskandar blueprint, unveiled by Abdullah in November, calls for a high-tech park, logistics and industrial precincts, educational park, regional hospitals, marina, waterside villas, theme parks and exclusive, gated residential communities.
It also envisages passport-free access to parts of the zone for Singaporeans.
Lee and Abdullah were holding bilateral talks for the first time in three years.
Despite an initial thaw in relations in 2004, when both leaders were new in their jobs, and a surge in cross-border mergers, old disputes continued to strain ties.
The two nations have quarrelled for decades over the price Singapore pays for its Malaysian water supplies, over railway land, air space, and Malaysia's desire to replace the causeway that links Singapore to Johor with a road-and-rail bridge.
Yesterday's meetings, which continued in the afternoon on board a cruise ship, aim to recapture some of that initial warmth in relations after Malaysia called off its bridge project last year, saying Singapore's conditions for agreement were unacceptable. Reuters
Late last year, Malaysia unveiled an ambitious two-decade blueprint to harness mostly private capital to turn 2,200 square km of the state into an industrial and tourism zone, and state capital Johor Baru into a new Asian boom town.
"Singapore has made an assessment and decided it is fundamentally good for us if this project takes off," Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said after meeting his Malaysian counterpart on the Malaysian resort island of Langkawi.
"It will complement Singapore," said the leader. The Johor plan implies heavy investment from neighbouring Singapore, which lies about a kilometre away from Johor Baru. Lee had said in December there were "mixed signals" from Malaysia about the extent to which Singapore investors were welcome.
However, after a two-hour breakfast meeting with Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi yesterday, the pair had agreed to form a joint ministerial panel to ensure cooperation in the so-called "Iskandar Development Region" or IDR.
Lee referred to the elder Abdullah by an affectionate nickname, Pak Lah or "uncle", at a joint news conference.
"I have suggested to Pak Lah, who agreed, that we should set up a ministerial committee to oversee the joint cooperation in the IDR," Lee said, adding that the panel could look into issues like joint tourism promotion and access into the zone.
The Iskandar blueprint, unveiled by Abdullah in November, calls for a high-tech park, logistics and industrial precincts, educational park, regional hospitals, marina, waterside villas, theme parks and exclusive, gated residential communities.
It also envisages passport-free access to parts of the zone for Singaporeans.
Lee and Abdullah were holding bilateral talks for the first time in three years.
Despite an initial thaw in relations in 2004, when both leaders were new in their jobs, and a surge in cross-border mergers, old disputes continued to strain ties.
The two nations have quarrelled for decades over the price Singapore pays for its Malaysian water supplies, over railway land, air space, and Malaysia's desire to replace the causeway that links Singapore to Johor with a road-and-rail bridge.
Yesterday's meetings, which continued in the afternoon on board a cruise ship, aim to recapture some of that initial warmth in relations after Malaysia called off its bridge project last year, saying Singapore's conditions for agreement were unacceptable. Reuters
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