KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 13 — The Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High-Speed Rail (HSR) project remains unaffected even though Japanese firms have withdrawn from involvement in the construction of the project, said Transport Minister Anthony Loke.
He said that Japanese companies are free to decide whether to participate in the project or not, as it is still in the Request for Information (RFI) stage.
“If Japanese companies are not interested in entering the tender, it is up to them. We conduct the RFI openly, why should we (Malaysia) feel pressured?
“Perhaps they (Japanese companies) feel it does not align with the model we want to implement. So, it’s up to them. Many other parties, even hundreds of companies, have expressed interest,” he told a press conference at the Batu Caves KTM station here today.
Loke stated that the RFI process will conclude this Monday, and the decisions of companies expressing interest in the HSR will be known thereafter, before moving on to the Request for Proposal (RFP) stage.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced that the government would evaluate the impact of the withdrawal of Japanese firms from the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore HSR project.
It followed a report from the Japanese news agency, Kyodo News, quoting sources that the decision of the Japanese companies to withdraw was due to the project becoming too risky without the financial support of the Malaysian government. — Bernama
