This will be followed by a delegation meeting, which is expected to be attended by ministers and senior high-ranking officials including Foreign Minister Anifah Aman, Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai, International Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed and Education Minister Mahdzir Khalid.
Others are Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Abdul Rahman Dahlan, Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister Noh Omar, and Natural Resources and Environment Minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.
Also on the list are Johor Menteri Besar Mohamed Khaled Nordin, Deputy Home Minister Nur Jazlan Mohamed, Chief Secretary to the Government of Malaysia Dr Ali Hamsa and Malaysian High Commissioner to Singapore Zulkifli Adnan.
Singapore’s delegation meanwhile comprises Foreign Minister Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan, Minister for Education (Schools) and Second Minister for Transport Ng Chee Meng, High Commissioner of Singapore to Malaysia Vanu Gopala Menon as well as several high-ranking officials.
The highlight of the retreat will be the signing of the Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) bilateral agreement between Rahman and Khaw, and a memorandum of understanding on educational cooperation between Singapore and Malaysia, which will be inked by Mahdzir and Ng.
The RTS Link, which was first announced during the leaders’ retreat in 2010, is expected to help both countries address traffic congestion between Johor Bahru and Singapore at the Causeway and Tuas.
Expected to begin operations in 2024, it will connect public transport services between Singapore and Johor Bahru via the RTS station in Bukit Chagar and the planned Woodlands North MRT station.
The RTS Link will be able to carry up to 10,000 passengers per hour per direction, or 72,000 passengers daily.
Some 400,000 travellers currently cross the Causeway and Tuas linkages on a daily basis.
The leaders’ retreat between the two countries was scheduled for mid-December last year but postponed as Najib had to attend a special meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in Turkey to discuss the US’ move to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.