Azmin Ali: Firm meeting date with Singapore over HSR soon

KUALA LUMPUR: Economic Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Azmin Ali says he had a “positive meeting” with Singapore officials when he went to the city-state recently.

He said he went to Singapore to visit Home Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin who was undergoing medical treatment there.

“I took that opportunity to meet some senior officials in Singapore to discuss the HSR (High-Speed Rail) project, but I will issue a statement to that effect at some point.

“The meeting was very positive,” he at the Parliament lobby on Monday.

Azmin said he has written to his Singaporean counterparts to firm up a date to hold formal talks over the project.

Last week, the Singapore government said it had received a letter from Azmin dated July 23, stating that the government was studying the details of the HSR project and will commence discussions with the republic soon.

It further said that if the Malaysian Government wished to meet to discuss the project, discussions should have taken place by July 31.

“As of Aug 1, 2018, Malaysia has not proposed a meeting date,” Singapore’s Ministry of Transport said in a statement issued late Wednesday (Aug 1) night.

The HSR is a 350km railway linking Kuala Lumpur and Singapore and is expected to start operations from 2026.