Singapore, Oct 30 – France has expressed interest in participating in the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high-speed rail link, reported Channel NewsAsia (CNA).
In a meeting with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Tuesday, French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault also expressed French interest in Singapore’s expansion of its MRT network, the local television news network said.
During the third day of his official visit to France, Lee had a two-hour meeting with Ayrault at his official residence in Paris, CNA said.
Both Lee and his Malaysian counterpart Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak announced their agreement to embark on the project at their Leaders Retreat here in February this year.
Upon completion in 2020, the high-speed rail will cut travelling time between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore to only 90 minutes.
In his Facebook posting, Lee said he had a very good meeting and dinner with Ayrault.
“We reviewed our partnership across all fields. PM Ayrault expressed France’s support for the EU-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (FTA), and expressed French interest in Singapore’s expansion of the MRT network.
“We both look forward to celebrating 50 years of our diplomatic relations in 2015,” the prime minister said.
Lee said he also had several meetings with business leaders on his trip to France.
“One of their main concerns was Singapore’s long-term foreign talent strategy,” he said, adding he assured them that Singapore will always be open to foreign expertise but the inflows must be sustainable in the long run and not overwhelm the Singaporean core.
-Bernama
