Substantial Content Under HSR MoU Already Cleared, Says Malaysian Envoy

By Massita Ahmad SINGAPORE, Aug 9 (Bernama) -- Quite a substantial amount of content under the memorandum of understanding (MoU) of the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail (HSR) project has already been cleared and covered, said Malaysia's High Commissioner to Singapore, Ilango Karuppannan. "What is happening now is that the negotiations are still ongoing to complete the technical issues related to the MoU," he told Bernama. "I have been told that a substantial amount has been already been completed. The remaining part is related to some of the technical issues, like maybe how (the) investment (is) going to be shared," he said when asked to update on the MoU. The MoU reflects the outcome of extensive discussions between officials led by the Ministry of Transport and Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) of Malaysia, and the Ministry of Transport and Land Transport Authority of Singapore, since the project was first announced by the Prime Ministers of both countries at the 4th Singapore-Malaysia Annual Leaders' Retreat in February 2013. The MoU captures the key points of agreement on the project, which includes the technical parameters; commercial model; customs, immigration and quarantine clearance; safety and security matters; regulatory framework; as well as project management. Ilango noted that the areas that had been discussed were primarily related to security. "According to the Singapore side, one of their issues of concern is security...Immigration, those kind of issues. That's Singapore. I'm not talking about our side," he said. The MoU was signed on July 19 in Putrajaya witnessed by Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak and Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. The MoU will guide the development of a legally-binding bilateral agreement to be signed by both Governments towards the end of this year. "The understanding is that by December the two countries should have completed the negotiations...that would be the deadline for the two leaders to sign the final legally-binding agreement," he said. Ilango said the date had yet to be fixed but Malaysia will still be the host country. "We offer to host it. The agreement was supposed to be signed in July but because we have a lot more issues that was why we decided to do it as an MoU. "Malaysia is still the host. Najib will invite his counterpart. Venue somewhere in Malaysia," he said. Asked on the next step after the legally-binding agreement was signed, Ilango said: "The understanding is that they will go to the market for tendering. Market process itself. Both countries will jointly evaluate the tenders and fixed how the tender is going to be done." The HSR will have eight stations -- the termini in Bandar Malaysia and Singapore, and six intermediate stations in cities of Putrajaya, Seremban, Ayer Keroh, Muar, Batu Pahat and Iskandar Puteri. The trains will run at a top speed of more than 300 kilometres per hour. Both Governments have agreed to work towards commencing HSR operations by around 2026. --BERNAMA