The Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High-Speed Rail (HSR) project can only be revived with full private sector participation, as the government has other pressing priorities, says Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Anwar made the statement during a joint press conference at Perdana Putra on Tuesday (Jan 7) with Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, who is on a two-day official visit to Malaysia.
Earlier, Wong expressed regret that the original HSR project could not proceed but reaffirmed Singapore's willingness to consider fresh proposals from Malaysia, starting from a clean slate.
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Anwar made the statement during a joint press conference at Perdana Putra on Tuesday (Jan 7) with Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, who is on a two-day official visit to Malaysia.
Earlier, Wong expressed regret that the original HSR project could not proceed but reaffirmed Singapore's willingness to consider fresh proposals from Malaysia, starting from a clean slate.
Read more at https://tinyurl.com/5676xbsm
WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news
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NewsTranscript
00:00So my first question would be, KIAL Singapore HSR project revival, should it proceed or not? Why and what's next?
00:08As far as the HSR is concerned, it's unfortunate we were not able to proceed with it originally.
00:14But we are open to listening to new proposals from the Malaysia side, starting from a clean slate.
00:21And so that's our position because from our point of view,
00:26greater connectivity between our two countries is always a plus. So that's where we are.
00:33On HSR, our position is of course to invite the participation of the private sector.
00:42Because the government has its limitations.
00:46We have put the issue of poverty alleviation, flood mitigation, issue of basic infrastructure,
00:53education and public health as our priority, at least for the next one or two years.
00:59So the major projects are going to be deferred, primarily because of this commitment to settling some of the outstanding issues
01:07dealing with the basic infrastructure, education and health, and issues of poverty.
01:14But we are still waiting for some promising and positive participation by the private sector to proceed when necessary.
01:28We will have to look at the – there have been proposals, the Ministry of Transport is looking at it.
01:37But we will ensure that it can only – we have decided it will only happen if we have full participation of the private sector
01:48with very minimal government involvement.