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SINGAPORE: Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Thursday (May 7) that his visit to Malaysia’s Pahang and Terengganu states was aimed at strengthening ties at both the national and state levels, while exploring new areas of cooperation between the two sides.
“At the national level, we have got good relations between the two prime ministers, our ministries all work with their counterparts, but that also needs to be complemented by cooperation at the state level,” he said.
“With some states like Johor, we have a lot of toing and froing, with Pahang and Terengganu and … the other states on the east coast, not so much.
“And yet, these are big states and important to understand and to keep in touch with and with potential to develop economic opportunities, tourism opportunities, other exchanges and cooperation where we can enhance our mutual understanding.”
Mr Lee was speaking to Singapore reporters during a wrap-up interview of his five-day visit to Malaysia, which ends on Friday.
Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong at a media wrap-up with Singapore media at Terengganu. (Photo: MDDI)
During his visit, Mr Lee met senior leaders from Pahang and Terengganu. He had an audience with Pahang Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah, and met Pahang chief minister Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail and Terengganu chief minister Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar, along with other state leaders.
Turning to his takeaways from the Terengganu leg, Mr Lee said both sides identified several areas for potential collaboration.
These include coastal protection, with Singapore developing measures against rising sea levels and Terengganu facing seasonal coastal erosion during the monsoon, as well as environmental impact assessments for renewable energy projects such as floating solar farms.
He said tourism is another area of interest, noting that Singaporeans already visit Terengganu’s offshore islands, such as Redang and Perhentian, and that there could be opportunities to further develop and promote other destinations in the state.
Singapore is also open to extending its Singapore Cooperation Programme to Terengganu officials, offering attachments and courses to share expertise, said Mr Lee.
Mr Lee added that bilateral relations between Singapore and Malaysia remain strong, with regular engagement between Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, as well as ongoing cooperation across ministries.
Projects such as the Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link are progressing, while both sides are also working on the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone, he said.
At the same time, Mr Lee acknowledged that long-standing issues, including maritime boundaries, airspace and water, are still under discussion.
“These are things which we have to manage and make sure that they stay on track and they do not unintentionally cloud and affect the overall relationship in a bad way,” he said.
“Two of us are very different countries, and yet we are forever neighbours, and we have to be forever working friends, and therefore we have to work at it and understand our differences and make sure that the differences do not cause us, unintentionally, to cause problems to one another.”
