PM Lawrence Wong at the Q&A Segment of the 11th Malaysia Singapore Leaders Retreat Joint Press Conference

Bernama: My first question would be on the Singapore-KL HSR project revival, should it proceed or not, why and what is next? The second question is on Singapore’s support and hope for Malaysia’s Chairmanship of ASEAN. Thank you.

PM Lawrence Wong: As far as the HSR is concerned, it is unfortunate we were not able to proceed with it originally, but we are open to listening to new proposals from the Malaysia side, starting from a clean slate. That is our position because from our point of view, greater connectivity between our two countries is always a plus. So that is where we are. As far as ASEAN Chairmanship is concerned, as I mentioned just now, Singapore fully supports Malaysia's Chairmanship of ASEAN. We think it is going to be more important now than ever before for ASEAN to be strong, integrated and united, because the greater competition we face is not amongst ourselves within ASEAN — it is outside of the region. Everyone is trying to anchor major projects now, in today's world where the big economies are all talking about reshoring, onshoring, nearshoring; they want the key projects to be nearer to their home economies. So ASEAN has to come together, look at ways in which we can enhance our value proposition and be competitive together, and Malaysia and Singapore can form a very important foundation for a stronger ASEAN. That is why the Johor-Singapore SEZ, the RTS – these are all critical building blocks towards a more integrated ASEAN. And where ASEAN is concerned, we are talking about not just more trade and investment linkages, but infrastructure linkages, including the ASEAN Power Grid. These are all good projects that Singapore will support, and we hope under Malaysia's leadership, we can make good progress on these projects.

Straits Times: Good morning, Chin Soo Fang from the Straits Times. Both Prime Ministers mentioned that there were discussions on several bilateral issues. Can we find out more on the status of some of these issues, like maritime delimitation, water and airspace, and what are the challenges to a faster resolution of these issues on both sides? Thank you.

PM Wong: These are longstanding issues, and they are complex in nature. Since I visited last year at the introductory visit, both Prime Minister Anwar and I have asked the officials to meet. They have done so across all of these issues, on maritime boundaries, on water, and on airspace. They have had good discussions. Some progress has been made, but we are not ready to resolve all of them yet, because they are complex. And while we would like the resolution to be expeditious, I think it is also important that we give time for the officials to meet, talk to one another, understand each other's positions and come up with an agreement and an outcome that is durable and that is beneficial for both sides. And both Prime Minister Anwar and I are fully committed to doing so, to having good faith conversations and discussions in a manner that is constructive, that will discuss the issues holistically and make sure that these outstanding matters do not ever detract from our overall relationship. That is why we are still able to move forward on positive win-win projects like the SEZ and the RTS. So we do not want these issues – even if there are differences of views – to detract from the positive projects that we can do together. But where these issues are concerned, we are fully committed to discussing them constructively, holistically, and I am confident that in time to come, we can achieve durable and mutually beneficial outcomes across all of them.

Astro Awani: What is your message to investors, especially on incentive structure? What incentives will be offered to attract investors and businesses to the SEZ? Thank you.

PM Wong: Our message – not just mine, I think both Prime Ministers – our message to investors is look at the complementarities between Johor and Singapore, because there are many advantages in coming here, and looking at this entire ecosystem. Not Johor by itself, nor Singapore by itself, but as an ecosystem that complements one another. And I think there are many strengths that we can harness from both sides that will allow us to enhance our value proposition and make this a much more competitive and attractive venue for businesses to operate from. Certainly, on the Singapore side, we have engaged many of our businesses, and they are very keen to do more out of Johor, and then to combine with their operations in Singapore. We already have existing incentives for businesses who want to expand overseas, so businesses from Singapore can tap on those incentives – market readiness programmes and grants – in order to expand and have some operations in Johor that will synergise with their operations in Singapore. But in fact, I think the greater potential for the SEZ is not just about Singapore businesses going to Johor, but it is about both sides working together to attract new investment projects globally. And if we can come together – which we intend to – market the SEZ together, promote the SEZ as a combined destination, Johor-Singapore together, hopefully this will allow both of us to attract even more global investments to our respective countries, enhance the pie, expand the pie, and create good jobs for both our peoples.

CNA: We were talking about global economic uncertainties – all eyes on Trump’s second term starting very soon, potential tariffs, observers are also looking at heightened superpower tensions. Was this something that was discussed, how Malaysia and Singapore plan to bolster economic resilience, perhaps in areas like the SEZ bilaterally and also regionally within ASEAN?

PM Wong: We touched on this, not explicitly, but it is at the back of our minds, because we all know that we are entering a new era where global tensions are here to stay, geopolitical rivalries are here to stay, and the world is becoming a more dangerous and troubled place. This is not going to go away in the near term. It is with us for quite some time to come, and therefore it is even more important for us to find ways to strengthen our linkages, cooperate on a win-win basis. We are doing this bilaterally, as I mentioned just now, the SEZ, RTS and many other projects which we are exploring – including on cross border electricity trading, digitalisation, infrastructure – all the possibilities for us to strengthen our linkages. But we are also hoping that the bilateral relationship between Malaysia and Singapore can provide an important foundation and building block for a stronger ASEAN, which again, we have an opportunity to advance through Malaysia’s Chairmanship. So the global challenges and tensions are indeed on our minds, and I think it is a very strong and powerful motivation for all of us to come together, strengthen our bilateral and regional ties.