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Japan wants to see its Shinkansen bullet train technology used in the planned high speed rail (HSR) project between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made his intention known with the visiting Malaysian delegation led by his counterpart Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak during a bilateral meeting.
“I hope to see the Shinkansen running on Malaysian land,” he said at a joint press conference with Mr Najib after the meeting.
Najib said they spent a lot of time discussing the HSR project to be undertaken by both the Malaysian and Singapore governments.
“We realised the significance and importance attached to the project by Japan,” noted Najib.
The Prime Minister believes that Japan will submit a highly competitive bid when the time comes.
Earlier this month, Najib and his Singapore counterpart Lee Hsien Loong reaffirmed that both countries were fully committed to the success of the HSR project that is expected to reduce travel time to just 90 minutes compared to more than three hours by road currently.
Besides Japan, several other countries like France, South Korea, Spain and Germany have shown interest to participate in the project, stated Malaysia’s Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai.
“It’s still early as both Malaysia and Singapore need to sort out a lot of details. Japan, on their part, is willing to undertake manpower training, transfer of technology and financing in their bid to win the project,” he added.
Image source: The Malaysian Insider
Farah Wahida, Editor of PropertyGuru Malaysia, wrote this story. To contact her about this or other stories email farahwahida@propertyguru.com.my
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