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Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high-speed rail to contribute 23.4 billion USD to Malaysian economy

Xinhua, October 22, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high-speed rail project is expected to contribute RM100 billion (about 23.4 billion U.S. dollars) to Malaysia's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), a government official said here Thursday.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Razali Ibrahim said at Dewan Rakyat, or lower house of the parliament, that RM70 billion (about 16.4 billion dollars) out of the total will come from construction, operation and the multiplier impact of the two activities.

He said that the remaining RM30 billion (about 7 billion dollars) will be generated from the wider economic benefit of increased activities expected in realty, tourism and service sectors.

"Malaysia and Singapore at a meeting between Prime Ministers Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Lee Hsien Loong, had reiterated their commitment for the project including on its terms and new date of completion," the minister added.

The high speed rail project between Singapore and Malaysia was agreed upon in 2013, which aims to cut down travel time between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore to just 90 minutes. The high speed railway is regarded as a "game-changing iconic project," which is expected to boost connectivity, enhance business linkages, and improve people-to-people ties.

The project was earlier expected to be completed by 2020. However, Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in May that the original timeline for Singapore-Kuala Lumpur High Speed Rail is "not really realistic" given the scale and complexity of the project, after meeting with his Malaysian counterpart Najib Razak in a retreat in Singapore. Endit