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Malaysia, Singapore committed to ensure a fair HSR tender process
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An aerial view of the Jurong Country Club site, where the high-speed rail Singapore terminus will be located. (The Straits Times/-)
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alaysia and Singapore have given a firm commitment to ensure that the tender awarding process for the High-Speed Rail (HSR) project will be carried out fairly and in a transparent manner.
With fierce competition for the bidding from China, Japan, South Korea and France, Prime Minister Najib Razak and his Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsien Loong agreed that both countries must work closely to ensure the best choice prevailed.
“You can rest assured that the process will be carried out in the fairest possible way,” said Najib during a press question-and-answer session after the signing of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the HSR project.
Lee said that as the HSR was a joint project, the eventual decision would be a joint one and both countries will have to “carry the consequences of both choices”.
“This [the tender process] is one of the items that has to be settled between the two sides.
“We need to discuss how the project will be structured, how the tender will be called and in what sequence, what each package consists of and how the tenders will be evaluated.
“The structure has to be right, the execution has to be well and properly done.
“The tenders must be evaluated in an objective, fair and transparent manner so that, when we make the decision, we are quite sure that it is the best value and best choice,” said Lee.
Najib said it was too early to say how much the project would cost until the bidding process was completed.
Various reports have estimated the project to cost between 40 billion ringgit (US$10 billion) and 60 billion ringgit.
Najib, who is also finance minister, expressed optimism about completing the project by 2026, with “the right business model”.
Both leaders agreed that the project would bring about economic benefits to Malaysia and Singapore.
Najib said the project would create 30,000 jobs and also bring changes to the towns along the line such as Seremban, Malacca, Muar, Batu Pahat and Johor Baru.
