THE 11th Singapore-Malaysia Leaders’ Retreat scheduled for Dec 8 to Dec 9 in Malaysia’s administrative capital, Putrajaya, has been postponed after Prime Minister Lawrence Wong tested positive for Covid-19.
In a Facebook post on Wednesday (Dec 4), PM Wong thanked PM Anwar and his wife, Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, for a “lovely ‘Get Well Soon’ package” of a fruit basket and some crab meat fish maw soup.
“Was supposed to go to KL for our annual Leaders’ Retreat, but had to postpone it due to my Covid infection,” wrote PM Wong. “We are in the midst of finding new dates. Look forward to meeting again soon!”
On Dec 4, Malaysia Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim told the country’s senate that a planned signing between both countries to formalise the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ) will likely be postponed to January 2025.
PM Wong had said on Dec 3 that he was self-isolating at home after testing positive for Covid-19 for the first time.
He said he woke up that morning with a bad sore throat after a stretch of overseas work trips.
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While he was feeling fine overall, he would self-isolate while working from home, said PM Wong, who was previously co-chairman of Singapore’s multi-ministry task force on Covid-19.
The JS-SEZ deal that was to be sewn up at the Leaders’ Retreat aims to bring mutual benefits to businesses and people from both countries, including enhancing the flow of goods and people, improving the ease of doing business, and supporting talent development.
It was officially announced in October 2023 during PM Anwar’s visit to Singapore for the 10th leaders’ retreat.
Malaysia and Singapore in January signed a memorandum of understanding to finalise an agreement to set up the zone by the end of 2024.
Malaysia’s Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli had said in July that the final agreement was expected to be inked in September, but this was pushed due to several sticking points.
In November, Minister for National Development Desmond Lee met Rafizi to advance discussions on the JS-SEZ.
The “special meeting” of the Malaysia-Singapore Joint Ministerial Committee for Iskandar Malaysia discussed the draft JS-SEZ joint agreement, which both countries will work towards signing during the 11th Malaysia-Singapore Leaders’ Retreat, a joint statement issued after the meeting said. THE STRAITS TIMES
