KL-S'pore rail talks to be finalised by Dec 31

Singapore's top foreign affairs official is confident that Singapore and Malaysia can meet the December 31 deadline to finalise the agreement on the implementation of the Points of Agreement agreed by the leaders of both countries in May.

Permanent Secretary of Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bilahari Kausikan, said that after talks with his counterparts in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday.

The two day meeting by the Malaysia-Singapore joint implementation team on the Points of Agreement concluded in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday.

Speaking to Singapore media, Mr Bilahari, who led the Singapore team, said he was very happy with the progress made in all five rounds of meetings so far.

He said: "We have finished substantially almost everything. Both sides have been working very well together, in fact, from the very beginning. So, we are down to just one or two issues where, in fact, there are solutions. We just have to go back to our respective bosses..."

During a retreat in May, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and his Singapore counterpart Lee Hsien Loong agreed to move the Points of Agreement forward.

These include the implementation of a rapid transit system connectivity between Johor Bahru and Singapore, co-locating the Customs, Immigration and Quarantine facilities to the Woodlands Train Checkpoint as well as establishing a joint venture company that will develop the Malaysian railway land in Singapore after Malaysia vacates Tanjong Pagar Station on July 1 next year.

Mr Bilahari said both sides have always had the big picture in mind and commended the level of professionalism shown by the Malaysian team.

He said: "They have always been very professional. Both sides know that this is in the interest of both countries and we would not have been able to make so much progress from the very beginning unless both sides had that spirit of cooperation, professionalism, and wanting to settle this as quickly as possible."

The Malaysian team was led by Secretary General of its Foreign Ministry, Mohd Radzi Rahman.

Senior officials from both countries will be meeting again next week in Singapore to finalise the agreement and wrap things up before the December 31 deadline.

- CNA