South Korea Among 150 Firms Interested To Bid For The Proposed Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail Project
Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Aziz Kaprawi confirms South Korea's interest in bidding for the proposed high speed rail (HSR) project that aims to link Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, reported The Star.
During the recent 9th Apec Transportation Ministerial Meeting (TMM9) in Cebu, Philippines, a bilateral meeting was held where South Korean Vice Transport Minister Yeo Hyung Koo announced to Abdul Aziz that the South is keen on bidding for the HSR project.
"During the bilateral meeting, I updated Deputy Minister Yeo on HSR, its prospects and opportunities available," said Abdul Aziz. "I also updated few other rail-based projects such as light rail transit extensions lines and Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit (KVMRT) projects, which have started and targeted to be completed by 2016 and 2017 respectively."
According to Channel NewsAsia, 150 companies from different countries have already expressed interest by responding to the Request for Information (RIF) exercise for the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail Project, while other companies are still given until Nov. 18 to respond to the RIF.
Singapore's Land Transport Authority (LTA) and Malaysia's Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) stated that some of these interested firms are based in Singapore, Malaysia, Asia-Pacific, Europe, Middle East and North America.
"We are pleased by the market's positive response to the RFI exercise," said the CEOs of LTA and SPAD in a joint statement. "We look forward to receiving their feedback next month. This feedback will be critical in helping us with the commercial model of the project, and will help ensure that this project starts off on the right note."
The Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail Project will have its terminal stations at Kuala Lumpur's Bandar Malaysia and Singapore's Jurong East and will enable passengers to travel from end-to-end for just a quick hour and a half.
The proposed project aims to boost growth and prosperity in both countries, with faster and easier communication and business linkages.
