2 months ago
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JOHOR BAHRU: The signing of a deal between Malaysia and Singapore on a proposed Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in southern Johor state - originally planned for Dec 9 during the annual leaders’ retreat - has been postponed to January, said Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
He said the decision was made after Prime Minister Lawrence Wong tested positive for COVID-19.
During a speech in the Malaysian senate on Wednesday Mr Anwar said: "The Malaysia government (was scheduled to) sign an agreement with Singapore on the Johor-Singapore SEZ on Dec 9.
But last night, the prime minister of Singapore informed me that (he has) COVID and hence the signing of the agreement … will be postponed to January.”
“This is the latest info I have, he told me that he did not want to infect me or (my wife) Azizah,” he added.
The Singapore-Malaysia Leaders’ Retreat was scheduled to be held from Dec 8 to Dec 9 in Malaysia’s administrative capital, Putrajaya, according to regional media.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday (Dec 3), Mr Wong said he had tested positive for COVID-19 for the first time and will self-isolate while working from home.
"Initially I thought it might just be a normal flu bug. But I just took a test to be sure. Turns out, I’ve finally succumbed to COVID after all these years!" he wrote.
"I’m feeling fine overall, and will self-isolate while working from home."
Mr Wong recently visited Bangkok at the invitation of his Thai counterpart Paetongtarn Shinawatra. Before that, he was at the APEC summit in Peru and G20 summit in Brazil.
In November, Johor chief minister Onn Hafiz Ghazi said that the joint agreement of the Johor-Singapore SEZ would be signed on Dec 9, during the retreat.
According to reports from Malaysian media, the retreat would see both governments advance discussions on various matters, including the SEZ, environmental issues as well as on connectivity.
The upcoming retreat would be Mr Wong’s first in his current capacity as prime minister of Singapore.
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