Transcript of the Joint Press Conference by PM Lee Hsien Loong and PM Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib Bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak on Friday 22 May 2009 at the Istana

Photo: © SPH
 

PM Lee: Ladies and gentlemen, I am very delighted to be receiving Prime Minister Dato' Sri Najib in Singapore with his delegation for his introductory visit. We have very warm relations with Malaysia, we have many interactions with their leaders but this is special because this is the first time Dato' Sri Najib is visiting Singapore as Prime Minister.

We had a good discussion, first between me and Dato' Sri, and subsequently with the delegation. We covered a range of areas of cooperation between our two countries, first of all on the Iskandar Malaysia Project, where I expressed once again our support and cooperation for participating in the project, because we see this as positive to Singapore, and we see this as something we can do, if the Malaysian side finds it is useful and believes we can make a contribution.

We talked about the iconic project, which we had previously discussed. Prime Minister Najib suggested the possibility of a wellness centre, or wellness town, where we can provide spas and other services to tourists and visitors. I suggested the possibility of a mixed-use township development, which could broaden the idea and extend the range of activities including industrial activities - it could have some residential, commercial space. These are preliminary suggestions which we floated, but they need to be studied further, and we agreed to ask the joint ministerial committee, which is chaired by Mr Mah Bow Tan on our side and Raymond Lim, and on the Malaysian side, by Tan Sri Nor Yakcop and Menteri Besar Ghani to follow up and study them in depth and come back with more specific proposals. So this was one major item.

We talked about the link between Singapore and Iskandar Malaysia, the Causeway, and the necessity to facilitate people and traffic flow on both sides, because the volume will grow further, and we should enable this to happen as conveniently and smoothly as possible.

I explained the history of this problem to the Prime Minister, the bridge and how it came about, and what the difficulties were. But I expressed my full support for the objective of enhancing the connectivity and the ease of movement on both sides. And I suggested that there might be other alternatives, such as broadening the Causeway, or improving the rail link between the two sides, maybe linking up the two rail transport systems, so that we could make it easy for people to travel back and forth in large numbers. And Dato' Sri Najib suggested that, maybe for the longer term, we should look at also a new link on the eastern side of Singapore, because Malaysia is developing Pengerang, Desaru, linking up with a bridge across Johor river which is being built, so for the medium- to long-term, the needs should be considered and perhaps we would need to consider a new bridge, linking up eastwards, to that part of Johor. So we agreed that these were areas which we would get together and study, and I think this is also something which the joint ministerial committee can look into.

We talked about security issues, of course, and Mas Selamat, and I once again expressed my thanks and congratulations to Prime Minister Najib for Malaysia's cooperation and support in arresting Mas Selamat, and in conducting this very successful operation. I expressed my appreciation, as well as our willingness to continue to cooperate closely between our agencies and the Malaysian agencies in the joint fight against terrorism, because this is a problem which has not disappeared, and will be with us for some time to come.

We talked about informal links between both sides and the necessity for us to keep constantly in touch with one another. I invited Prime Minister Najib to come down for a retreat sometime this year. We have had retreats previously between Singapore and Malaysia, and the most recent one was two years ago in Langkawi, when Tan Sri Abdullah Badawi hosted me, and we had a very good meeting. So I invited Prime Minister Najib to come down, bring some of his ministers down, and we can spend some time, exchange views not only on bilateral issues but also on the broader landscape including developments in ASEAN and in Asia. Prime Minister has agreed, and we will work it out at some convenient time.

We also touched on the Points of Agreement, which is one of the legacy issues which we had both inherited, and as you know it is a very old issue, it started more than 18 years ago, and it is not something which should drag on because we do not want outstanding legacy issues to affect our overall relationship. So we agreed that the foreign ministers would meet to look into the implementation of the PoA, and we look forward to them discussing this and making progress to resolve the matter.

So I think we had a very good discussion, it is another step in our relationship, and I am quite sure that as we move forward, new opportunities and new issues arise and we will take them one by one. So thank you very much, and perhaps Dato' Sri would like to say something.

PM Najib: (Greeting in Bahasa) A very good morning. First of all, I expressed my deepest appreciation to Prime Minister Hsien Loong and the Government of Singapore for the very warm hospitality and the excellent arrangements made for my introductory visit to Singapore. We had very useful, very productive and even candid four-eye meeting with a couple of note-takers, and we covered the subjects, and I would like to second, and echo whatever Prime Minister Hsien Loong has said.

We started by talking about Iskandar development, because I just came from seeing myself the progress of Iskandar, and there is a lot of progress on the ground, 42 billion ringgit in terms of committed investment, and 30% of that is actually being implemented on the ground, and I could see for myself the tremendous progress that has been made. And we both agree that this is an excellent opportunity for us to showcase the growing cooperation between our two countries. We came to the conclusion, in terms of having iconic investment, I suggested to Prime Minister Hsien Loong about a wellness centre, because that seems to be the in-thing nowadays, people talk about having retreats, having spas, having treatments, having medical and spa and whatever you like, even homeopathy and herbal treatment. So that kind of thing would appeal to Singaporeans and to Malaysians, and also to foreigners. So we would like to offer that to begin with, and Prime Minister Hsien Loong also suggested for us to look at a township, a mixed development, because Singapore has experience in other countries and to take into account the possibilities of some investments in Singapore, which may need to be relocated for whatever reasons, and certainly Iskandar could be one region for them to consider. So we both agree that the two ministers, Mr Mah and Tan Sri Nor will look into this in greater detail.

With respect to the bridge, we agree that the most important thing is the objective. What is the objective? The objective is to facilitate movement of people, goods and services, to make it a lot easier and the volume will increase, so naturally as governments, we have to respond accordingly. So I brought up the possibility of having a new bridge on the eastern side, because the eastern side is less developed and there is huge potential there, and we both agree that we should look at it in the medium and long-term. There is no great hurry, but let us commission a proper study and look that the viability of that, and with respect to the Causeway, I told Prime Minister Hsien Loong that I would not want to go down the same route and end up with another problem or another disappointment. I think we should agree on what to do, we agree on the objective, let us look at how we can achieve that objective, and there could be other ways of achieving that objective. We talked about perhaps enlarging the Causeway or having rail links, or whatever it is, for as long as the objectives are met. So this would be the subject in greater details by the two committees.

With respect to the PoA, we both agree that the two foreign ministers should discuss this and look in terms of how we can implement the PoA that would be seen as win-win situation for both countries. It is something that both of us have inherited, and I think 18 years is long enough. We should not wait for another 18 years to resolve this problem. So let us put our minds together and put this behind us and move forward in terms of our relationship.

We also talked about security, and I told Prime Minister Hsien Loong that with regards to Mas Selamat's arrest, we will of course make him accessible to Singapore and whatever information we will gather will be shared between our two countries and that is an example in which we can already cooperate to make sure that both countries are safe, and the people of both countries are safe. It is something that we need to not take our eye off the ball, as the expression goes, because security is something that is always very, very important for us to ensure.

With respect to other things, there was a request by Singapore to have a consular office.

PM Lee: Yes, I forgot to say that. I raised this with the Prime Minister, that Singapore would like to have a consular office in Johor Baru, because with the intensifying interactions, visits and presence because of Iskandar Malaysia, it would be good if we could have an office there to service the Singaporeans who may have consular needs, like if a family member gets ill, they have an accident and they need some help, so somebody will be there. And I have experienced it myself, of people who rung me up and said, "I have had an injury, I am somewhere in Johor and I need to come back to Singapore, can you help to arrange this". So I asked if we could have a consular office in Johor Baru and Prime Minister Najib very generously agreed to this. So I think it is not just a signal of our cooperation, but also a practical step which would be beneficial to Singaporeans, and will help to intensify the cooperation between Singapore and Iskandar Malaysia.

PM Najib: We also took note of the fact that there are more airlines, more flights between our two countries, especially the low-cost carriers. This is a very positive development and we want to encourage greater linkages between our two countries. We also decided that the fund that has been set aside for the joint promotion of Malaysia and Singapore. I think we should activate the fund, we have agreed a while ago, but there has been very little development in terms of expanding the fund, so we both agree that we should see to it that this agreement is implemented.

Utusan Melayu: Gamal Nasir from Utusan Melayu. (Question in Bahasa) To PM Lee, my question will be, what kind of changes do you like to see in Malaysia-Singapore relationship, in resolving these legacy issues? Thank you.

PM Lee: You want to go first?

PM Najib: You want me to speak in Bahasa or in English? It does not matter. We both agree that the legacy issues should not be in the way of us moving ahead and moving forward the relationship, I think we both recognise there is much much more to gain from a productive and cooperative arrangement rather than allowing these things to be, to hamper and even, dampen the relationship. The basic principle is to make sure that it is in the classic win-win mode, in terms of moving the relationship, you do not have to quantify that we win exactly the same amount that Singapore wins or Singapore wins exactly the same amount as we win, as long as generally speaking, we are being seen as benefiting from resolving these problems and I think if we have this kind of spirit, I don't think the problems are so insurmountable and I am confident that we can move ahead, resolving these legacy problems.

PM Lee: These are issues as you say, telah diwarisi, inherited from previous generations. I think they need to be tackled, they are not easy issues otherwise they would have been solved before. But they need to be resolved otherwise, I think they will continue to potentially trouble our relationship for a long time to come. It is not productive to discuss publicly, every move and suggestion and proposal we have on these problems. I think one of the difficulties has been, over the years, that the issues have taken on not only their practical significance but their broader political resonance because they have been explained, argued over, debated, positions have been taken which make it very difficult to have a flexibility and discussions which are pragmatic and forward-looking. So I would not like to have a public discussion of what we are going to do or what changes we are going to propose or what we expect from Malaysia. I think we have appointed the two foreign Ministers to take the matter forward and make sure it does not last another 18 years and that is clear enough set of instructions.

CNA: Prime Ministers, beyond Iskandar Malaysia, how do you see Singapore-Malaysia cooperation in the area of tackling present economic downturn and also, enhancing Asean's credibility, especially after the Pattaya debacle?

PM Lee: Well, I think the downturn is global but in a difficult economic situation like this, it is all the more important for close neighbours which have very major economic ties to one another, to work closely to enhance the ties, and not to weaken these ties. And we do so bilaterally but we also do so within the framework of ASEAN, and I discussed with Prime Minister Najib that ASEAN has a got roadmap for economic integration and a target date of an ASEAN economic community by 2015. And I think Singapore and Malaysia ought to work together to help ASEAN to achieve this ambitious objective.

New Straits Times: Koh Lay Chin from New Straits Times. Both Prime Ministers talked about the wellness centre being a possible iconic project, may I ask exactly what is collaboratively iconic about the project and is the new link, or bridge, considered a possible iconic project?

PM Najib: Well I think the wellness centre can be a showcase because of the number of people who can make use of it, the facilities that we can set up and also in the size-wise, area-wise, so it can be considered as iconic. But iconic not only in the symbolic sense but it is strong on the line, business sense as well. I don't think we just want to spend money for a monument or something like that, but it has to be predicated on a strong business footing.

PM Lee: I think if we have a good project which is economically and financially sound, where both sides have a stake, and which is operating in a way which will benefit both Malaysians and Singaporeans and also make a contribution to Iskandar Malaysia, I would say that meets the criteria for being iconic, it does not have to be a very big structure, imposing monument but the fact that it is operating, enduring and growing, I think that is what we are looking for.

Associated Press: Alex Kennedy, with the Associated Press. Both of you - this global economic crisis has presented a real challenge to both your countries, especially Singapore, which is such an open economy. Do you expect, going forward, that this is the moment of a fundamental shift in Singapore's growth model, that you are going to focus more on services, perhaps less on manufacturing and exports? And also the same question for Malaysia: do you see this as a moment of fundamental shift that we are going to see less demand from the West, and therefore you have to focus more on markets in Asia? Thank you.

PM Lee: Well, I think it is a moment for a deep review of our economic strategies. As the President said, when he addressed Parliament on Monday, at the broadest level, our approaches are sound and have to remain, because I don't see us going to turn inwards and prospering, servicing ourselves; we just do not have enough of ourselves to service, to make ourselves prosper. You have to service the world, you have to be plugged in to Asia, to the developed economies. We have to depend on international trade, free trade, investments, and whether it is manufacturing or services, whether it is old activities or new activities, that is the broad framework. But which activities to go into, what sort of manufacturing, what new services, even if you talk about financial services, where are the growth opportunities? Which are the areas where we are gradually losing the competitive advantage and which are moving to other sectors? How do we grow new ones and new capabilities? These are issues which we have to consider, and which we will be focusing systematically, to think about over the next few months in Singapore.

PM Najib: We are taking advantage of the current global downturn to look at not only the short term efforts to bring our economy back on track, but to come up with a new economic model for Malaysia, that would emphasise on greater creativity, greater innovation, and high value. So these are the basic ingredients of the new economic model that we are putting together, and I will talk about when we are ready for it.

The Straits Times: Clarissa Oon from the Straits Times. PM Najib and PM Lee, we understand that you spoke about the subject of Mas Selamat Kastari's recapture. May I ask what is the timeline for his return to Singapore, and can you give more details on the attacks that he was said to have been planning on Singapore? Thank you.

PM Lee: Obviously a question to you.

PM Najib: Yes, I have shared this in confidence. So I would not want to divulge it openly. Suffice it to say that we are keeping the Singapore authorities abreast about whatever we have learnt from Mas Selamat. And as to when we should return, I think it is a subject for us to discuss further between the two security authorities.

PM Lee: We have every confidence in the competence and professionalism of the Malaysian authorities, and they have been generous in sharing with us what they have discovered from the debrief of Mas Selamat Kastari, and we leave it in their hands and I am sure that the matter will be resolved in good time. It is not a good practice to share publicly a lot of details about intelligence operations, I am sure you will understand why. It is better to keep your readers in suspense. Thank you very much.

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