Govt Open To Reviving KL-SG HSR With Private Sector Involvement - PM Anwar

The government has decided that the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High-Speed Rail (HSR) project can be resurrected with little government engagement and full private sector participation, according to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Anwar, who is also the finance minister, stated that the government's present position is to welcome private sector engagement due to budget constraints and the need to await potential proposals.
“We have to put the issues of poverty alleviation, flood mitigation, basic infrastructure, education and public health as our priority, at least for the next one or two years, so the mega projects have to be deferred because of the commitment to settling some outstanding issues.

“We are still waiting for some promising and positive contribution or participation by the private sector to proceed when necessary... there have been proposals and the task force is looking at it,” he said during a joint press conference with Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong in conjunction with Wong’s two-day official visit to Malaysia which started yesterday. Even though there have been preliminary plans for the HSR, Anwar added that no decision would be taken until all factors have been carefully considered. The project won't proceed unless the private sector is fully involved and requires little government funding. Singapore's prime minister,  Lawrence Wong, stated that the city-state is prepared to talk about the issue while awaiting another proposal from Malaysia in the event that the train project is to be revived. “As far as the HSR is concerned, it’s unfortunate that we could not proceed with it originally. However, we are open to reviewing new proposals from Malaysia. From our perspective, greater connectivity between our two countries is always a plus,” Wong said. Since the first agreement on the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore HSR project was reached in 2013, negotiations have been going on for 12 years, with postponements and cancellations in 2021. Signed in December 2016, the first bilateral agreement was expected to be completed in 2025 and go into effect in 2026.