Malaysia-Singapore to boost urban redevelopment efforts - Nga

KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia and Singapore are ready to strengthen their bilateral strategic cooperation, including in the urban redevelopment aspect, said Local Government Development Minister Nga Kor Ming.

He said this was decided with Singapore’s National Development Minister Desmond Lee Ti-Seng, during his courtesy visit yesterday.

In his Facebook post, Nga said that Lee expressed Singapore’s confidence in Malaysia’s efforts to actively drive urban planning and redevelopment initiatives in this country.

"In this regard, Lee and his delegation expressed Singapore’s intention to strengthen bilateral strategic cooperation by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in the near future,” said Nga, who also posted pictures of the meeting.

According to Nga, the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) has identified 139 dilapidated and outdated sites in the city that require redevelopment efforts.

Urban planning and redevelopment will further boost the local economy by creating new job opportunities and contributing to high economic value, he added.

In addition to discussing urban planning and redevelopment, the two-hour meeting covered topics such as housing, firefighting and civil defence matters.

Nga said Singapore also agreed to conduct joint exercises with the Malaysian Fire and Rescue Department at the Civil Defence Academy in Singapore in the future.

These proposals will be thoroughly examined during the Malaysia-Singapore Leaders’ Retreat scheduled for Oct 30 in the republic, Nga added.

Lee is on a four-day visit to Malaysia, which started on Oct 8. - BERNAMA