SINGAPORE — Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Malaysian premier Muhyiddin Yassin held a video conference call earlier on Wednesday (Dec 2) on the status of the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail (HSR) project.

The discussion was in view of the Dec 31, 2020 deadline for the second round of suspension of the project, a joint statement from the prime minister’s offices of the two countries said.

Mr Lee and Mr Muhyiddin took stock of the progress of discussions, and gained a good understanding of Singapore and Malaysia’s respective positions, the statement said.

It added that the two countries will announce more details of the HSR project through a joint statement in “due course”.

“Both Prime Ministers also reaffirmed the strong bilateral relations between the two countries covering many areas of cooperation and the sincere desire to further strengthen these relations for mutual benefit,” the statement added.

Mr Lee in a Facebook post said that the pandemic has been tough for both sides of the Causeway.

"Happy that our friendship and cooperation with our neighbour continue to be robust, despite Covid-19," he added.

Late last month, Malaysian news outlet Free Malaysia Today reported that the HSR project is expected to continue without Singapore’s participation.

Singapore’s Ministry of Transport then said that the bilateral agreement on the project “is a legally binding international agreement which remains in force today”.

The ministry added that Singapore continues to believe that the HSR project is “beneficial for both countries, and remains fully committed to fulfilling our obligations under the HSR Bilateral Agreement”.

In September 2018, Malaysia and Singapore agreed to postpone the construction of the rail project until end-May this year.

Malaysia had to pay Singapore S$15 million for costs incurred in suspending the plan.

It then further requested a seven-month extension to allow both countries to discuss Malaysia’s proposed changes to the project.

Mr Khaw Boon Wan, then-Minister for Transport, later agreed for the “final extension” until Dec 31 this year.