By S Ramesh, Channel NewsAsia, 5 Jan 2012
PUTRAJAYA, MALAYSIA: The Prime Ministers of Malaysia and Singapore have agreed that the Joint Ministerial Committee for Iskandar Malaysia should explore more ways to enhance collaboration in the economic region in Johor for the mutual benefit of both sides.
The agreement was reached during discussions between Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his Malaysian counterpart Najib Razak at their third leaders' retreat at the Malaysian administrative capital of Putrajaya on Thursday.
At a news conference after their meeting, both leaders said they have directed that a new workgroup on industrial cooperation be formed under the Joint Ministerial Committee. The aim is to promote mutually beneficial twinning of economic activities between Iskandar Malaysia and Singapore.
Both countries, through the Joint Ministerial Committee for Iskandar Malaysia, would also explore the possibility of establishing ferry and water taxi services as another means of transportation between Singapore and Malaysia.
"The idea of the new workgroup is to cooperate and train more locals in industrial and manufacturing projects," Mr Lee said.
He said the manufacturing sector, which represents about one quarter of Singapore's economy, is continuously upgraded and is growing. However, Singapore has space and manpower constraints, he said.
"Iskandar Malaysia can provide infrastructure and industrial facilities for project expansion by Singapore companies or projects that want to come to Singapore but couldn't be accommodated there. We can work together," he said.
Both Mr Lee and Mr Najib said the Iskandar Malaysia project has helped enhance ties between the two countries.
Mr Lee said: "It sets the basis for us to move forward and develop our bilateral relationship another step forward.
"Singapore sees it very much in our interests that Iskandar Malaysia prospers and succeeds. It has been doing well, it has attracted many investments. But most importantly I think if we can develop the linkage between Singapore and Iskandar, we will be able to have benefits to both sides."
PUTRAJAYA, MALAYSIA: The Prime Ministers of Malaysia and Singapore have agreed that the Joint Ministerial Committee for Iskandar Malaysia should explore more ways to enhance collaboration in the economic region in Johor for the mutual benefit of both sides.
The agreement was reached during discussions between Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his Malaysian counterpart Najib Razak at their third leaders' retreat at the Malaysian administrative capital of Putrajaya on Thursday.
At a news conference after their meeting, both leaders said they have directed that a new workgroup on industrial cooperation be formed under the Joint Ministerial Committee. The aim is to promote mutually beneficial twinning of economic activities between Iskandar Malaysia and Singapore.
Both countries, through the Joint Ministerial Committee for Iskandar Malaysia, would also explore the possibility of establishing ferry and water taxi services as another means of transportation between Singapore and Malaysia.
"The idea of the new workgroup is to cooperate and train more locals in industrial and manufacturing projects," Mr Lee said.
He said the manufacturing sector, which represents about one quarter of Singapore's economy, is continuously upgraded and is growing. However, Singapore has space and manpower constraints, he said.
"Iskandar Malaysia can provide infrastructure and industrial facilities for project expansion by Singapore companies or projects that want to come to Singapore but couldn't be accommodated there. We can work together," he said.
Both Mr Lee and Mr Najib said the Iskandar Malaysia project has helped enhance ties between the two countries.
Mr Lee said: "It sets the basis for us to move forward and develop our bilateral relationship another step forward.
"Singapore sees it very much in our interests that Iskandar Malaysia prospers and succeeds. It has been doing well, it has attracted many investments. But most importantly I think if we can develop the linkage between Singapore and Iskandar, we will be able to have benefits to both sides."
"There is no doubt that the synergistic development based on the impetus of Singapore and the existence of Southern Johor as a large hinterland has been proven to be a very workable and do-able concept," said Mr Najib.
The two Prime Ministers are also pleased with the collaboration between Khazanah Nasional and Temasek Holdings through joint investments in M+S Pte Ltd. The company has also submitted the designs for the Marina South and Ophir-Rochor developments in Singapore for planning approval.
On the Malaysian proposal for its power generating companies to sell electricity to Singapore, Mr Lee said Singapore is in the process of working out the proper framework for managing the import of electricity.
He said: "Singapore is very open to importing a certain proportion of our electricity and if the terms are right and provide us with attractive offers, we can't refuse. Of course, we are happy to buy, subject to proper terms and safeguards. We are in the process of working out the proper framework for managing these imports of electricity.
"Once this framework is ready, we welcome Malaysian companies to participate and to bid to supply electricity to Singapore and we hope of course some of them would succeed.
"But when you supply electricity, there is also the consideration of the environmental impact of the power generation companies, because if you are burning fossil fuels, particularly coal, you also have to make sure there are environmental controls and that is something we will be taking seriously in mind. It affects the immediate neighbours of the power station but there could be cross border implications as well, and that is something we have to pay attention to."
One highlight of Thursday's retreat was the unveiling of the models of the mega wellness township projects in Iskandar Malaysia. And, there are plans for the leaders to visit the site at their next retreat.
The leaders' retreat between Malaysia and Singapore goes beyond just the two Prime Ministers. From the start since 2007, these retreat meetings have also involved several ministers of both countries.
The meetings enable the ministers to touch base with one another and to take stock of the various joint projects which Singapore and Malaysia have been involved in.
The meetings enable the ministers to touch base with one another and to take stock of the various joint projects which Singapore and Malaysia have been involved in.
Some of the areas include tourism development, transport, the broadcasting industry and also the environment.
On tourism collaboration, Malaysia and Singapore noted that good progress has been made, in particular eco-tourism. A study on jointly marketing Singapore's Sungei Buloh Wetland and Iskandar Malaysia's three Ramsar sites of Sungei Pulai, Pulau Kukup and Tanjung Piai has been completed.
Both countries were also pleased with the success of the joint concert Muzika Extravaganza organised annually by Radio Television Malaysia (RTM) and MediaCorp.
And Prime Minister Lee and Mr Najib have directed officials to look into further collaboration in the fields of information, culture, the arts, youth and sports, with the view of enhancing mutual goodwill and understanding between Malaysians and Singaporeans.
One potential area of bilateral cooperation is the alignment of the radio frequency spectrum plans in both countries for digital broadcast and mobile broadband services.
The alignment would allow both countries to meet the growing demand for digital TV and mobile broadband. It will also improve regional mobile roaming and provide more competitive mobile broadband services.
Malaysia may sell electricity to Singapore
Channel NewsAsia, 5 Jan 2012
The Prime Ministers of Malaysia and Singapore have discussed the possibility of Malaysia selling electricity to Singapore.
This was announced by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak during a joint news conference with his Singapore counterpart Mr Lee Hsien Loong at the end of the third leaders' retreat between the two countries.
Mr Najib said if the plan comes to fruition, it will be a private sector-driven initiative.
Responding to this, Prime Minister Lee said Singapore is very open to importing a certain portion of electricity from Malaysia, if the terms are right and if the private sector proposes an attractive offer which Singapore cannot refuse.
Mr Lee said: "Singapore is very open to importing a certain proportion of our electricity. If the terms are right, this provides us with an attractive offer which we can't refuse.
Of course, we'll be happy to buy, subject to proper terms and safeguards. We're in the process of working out a proper framework for managing these imports of electricity. And once this framework is ready, we welcome Malaysian companies to participate and bid to supply electricity to Singapore. We hope, of course, that some of them will succeed."
However, he stressed that the offer has to be in accordance with proper safeguards.
Mr Lee said in reaching a decision on the matter, Singapore will need also need to study the environmental impact of power generation companies.
Mr Lee said: "When you supply electricity, there's also the consideration of environmental impact of the power generation companies.
If you're burning fossil fuels, particularly coal, you have to make sure there's environmental controls to prevent sulphur dioxide or ash or other problems to the environment.
"That's something we'll be taking seriously in mind. It affects, of course, the immediate neighbours of the power station but there could be cross-border implications as well."
The leaders also proposed that their countries explore industrial cooperation in the Iskandar Malaysia development region in Johor.
They directed a new work group on industrial cooperation to look for more ways to enhance collaboration that will benefit both sides.
The leaders said they're pleased with the collaboration between Khazanah Nasional and Temasek Holdings through joint investments in M+S Pte Ltd.
The company has submitted the design for the Marina South and Ophir-Rochor developments for planning approval.
The delegations have completed the retreat meeting.
Channel NewsAsia, 5 Jan 2012
The Prime Ministers of Malaysia and Singapore have discussed the possibility of Malaysia selling electricity to Singapore.
This was announced by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak during a joint news conference with his Singapore counterpart Mr Lee Hsien Loong at the end of the third leaders' retreat between the two countries.
Mr Najib said if the plan comes to fruition, it will be a private sector-driven initiative.
Responding to this, Prime Minister Lee said Singapore is very open to importing a certain portion of electricity from Malaysia, if the terms are right and if the private sector proposes an attractive offer which Singapore cannot refuse.
Mr Lee said: "Singapore is very open to importing a certain proportion of our electricity. If the terms are right, this provides us with an attractive offer which we can't refuse.
Of course, we'll be happy to buy, subject to proper terms and safeguards. We're in the process of working out a proper framework for managing these imports of electricity. And once this framework is ready, we welcome Malaysian companies to participate and bid to supply electricity to Singapore. We hope, of course, that some of them will succeed."
However, he stressed that the offer has to be in accordance with proper safeguards.
Mr Lee said in reaching a decision on the matter, Singapore will need also need to study the environmental impact of power generation companies.
Mr Lee said: "When you supply electricity, there's also the consideration of environmental impact of the power generation companies.
If you're burning fossil fuels, particularly coal, you have to make sure there's environmental controls to prevent sulphur dioxide or ash or other problems to the environment.
"That's something we'll be taking seriously in mind. It affects, of course, the immediate neighbours of the power station but there could be cross-border implications as well."
The leaders also proposed that their countries explore industrial cooperation in the Iskandar Malaysia development region in Johor.
They directed a new work group on industrial cooperation to look for more ways to enhance collaboration that will benefit both sides.
The leaders said they're pleased with the collaboration between Khazanah Nasional and Temasek Holdings through joint investments in M+S Pte Ltd.
The company has submitted the design for the Marina South and Ophir-Rochor developments for planning approval.
The delegations have completed the retreat meeting.
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