KUALA LUMPUR:Malaysia will honour its obligations under the lapsed Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail (HSR) Bilateral Agreement, said Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Economy) Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed.

Following this, he said both countries would initiate the necessary action in determining the amount of compensation for the project.

“Malaysia and Singapore enjoy very close bilateral ties. We will continue to strengthen these ties, including further enhancing connectivity between our two countries for mutual benefit.

“Moving forward, the government will undertake a detailed study to explore all possible options, including the viability of a domestic HSR project and its benefits to Malaysians,” he said in a statement today.

Earlier today, the Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and his Singapore counterpart Lee Hsien Loong in a joint press statement announced that (HSR) project has been terminated as both countries failed to reach an agreement on changes proposed by Malaysia before the project agreement lapsed on Thursday (Dec 31).

The Malaysian government had proposed several changes to the HSR project including the project structure, alignment and station design due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Malaysian economy, with a number of discussions on their respective positions have been conducted.

However, both governments were unable to come to an agreement on those changes, hence, the Bilateral Agreement had therefore lapsed as scheduled.

-- BERNAMA