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SINGAPORE: This country sees a “new relationship”
emerging with Malaysia and is open to investing in a major
industrial project in Johor, Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong said in
remarks published Thursday.
“I see the start of a new
relationship with Malaysia,” Goh was quoted by the Straits Times
as saying ahead of a key visit by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to
Kuala Lumpur in May.
Goh stepped down as prime
minister in 2004 and was named a special envoy to Malaysia tasked
with seeking solutions to outstanding bilateral issues.
Relations have often been stormy
since Singapore was ejected from the Malaysian federation in 1965
over ethnic issues but they have undergone a marked improvement in
recent years, especially in areas of economic cooperation.
Among the outstanding issues
between Malaysia and Singapore are the price of water supplied to
Singapore, the future of Malaysian-owned railway land in Singapore
and rival territorial claims to a rocky islet.
Malaysia is seeking billions of
dollars in global investments to turn its southernmost state Johor,
connected by a causeway and bridge to Singapore, into a major
industrial center.
A project called the Iskandar
Development Region is forecast to be 2.5 times the size of Singapore
with an area of 2,217 square kilometers.
“We would want to cooperate, if
we are welcome, not just by Kuala Lumpur but also Johor,” Goh
said.
“If the signals are clear, we
would cooperate and see what we can do because it is mutually
beneficial.”
Ties with Malaysia appear to be
improving at a time when Singapore is engaged in diplomatic spats
with Indonesia over trade in resources and a proposed extradition
treaty, and with Thailand over the Singaporean takeover of a telecom
conglomerate.
--AFP
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