New Sabah, Sarawak consulates among outcomes from Singapore-Malaysia Leaders’ Retreat

SINGAPORE – The Republic will open new consulates in Sabah and Sarawak, and also signed a new agreement with Malaysia confirming that commuters need to clear immigration only once when departing through the upcoming Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link.

These were among the updates given by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim after

their meeting on Dec 4 at The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore hotel.

The two countries reached agreements in several fields, including on health cooperation and more collaboration in the fight against illicit drugs.

The leaders also spoke about longstanding bilateral issues on water, airspace and maritime boundaries. In a joint statement issued at the end of the retreat, both leaders reaffirmed to resolve these issues amicably and constructively, “in a spirit of mutual respect, and in accordance with the principles of international law”.

Here are 10 takeaways from the 12th Singapore-Malaysia Leaders’ Retreat:

New Singapore consulates in Sabah and Sarawak

Malaysia has formally agreed to Singapore’s proposal to open consulates in Sabah and Sarawak – something that was raised at the 11th edition of the retreat in Putrajaya in January.

PM Wong said that the new consulates will allow Singapore to provide consular services to Singaporeans there, and deepen the ties between the people of both countries.

Singapore currently has two diplomatic missions in Malaysia. There is a high commission in Kuala Lumpur and a consulate in Johor Bahru that opened in 2009.

Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System Link

Three deals were exchanged at the retreat, the first a supplementary agreement to the RTS Link Bilateral Agreement,

which was signed in 2018

.

Calling the RTS Link a “major game changer” for traffic flow between both countries, PM Wong said the new agreement facilitates preparations for co-located Customs, immigration, and quarantine facilities and the eventual operationalisation of the RTS Link.

In a Facebook post later in the day, Acting Minister for Transport Jeffrey Siow said the agreement sets out the legal framework so commuters on both sides need to clear immigration only once at the point of departure.

“It takes us one more step towards the operation of the RTS Link end of next year, which we both look forward to,” he said.

Cooperation on health

Under a new agreement, both countries will work together on exchange of information and best practices, exchange visits for experts and officials, joint training and capacity building programmes, as well as research collaboration, among other areas of cooperation.

Some specific areas to be worked on include digital health, health financing, long-term care and healthy ageing, and public health, such as the prevention and control of communicable diseases.

Fight against drugs

Both countries also committed to working more closely in the fight against illicit drugs.

Under the deal, the Singapore and Malaysian authorities will exchange information on trends and techniques used in the production, abuse, trafficking and illicit diversion of drugs.

Public agencies from both countries will also work together on coordinated activities and exercises to prevent and control illicit drug trafficking.

Asked at the press conference whether the matter of capital punishment for drug offences was discussed, given that a number of Malaysians had been executed, PM Wong said it was not. He added that it has not resulted in bilateral issues.

“Singapore’s strong and tough stance against drugs is very clear,” he said.

“We hope that all countries understand why the rationale for our strong stance and respect the way in which we can go about conducting our policies on this front.”

Datuk Seri Anwar said that due legal process has to be respected, and stressed also Malaysia’s strong stance against drugs.

“I’m not suggesting, therefore, the families cannot appeal. They cannot be turned into a major or any political issue or differences, if at all,” he added.

Cross-border taxi scheme

PM Wong said that officials from both countries are discussing reciprocal improvements to the cross-border taxi scheme, with the goal of improving convenience for commuters.

Under the existing scheme, a licensed fleet of up to 200 taxis each from Singapore and Malaysia can ferry passengers between the Republic and Johor Bahru.

Senior Minister of State for Transport Sun Xueling

had said in October

that the authorities of the two countries are discussing allowing Malaysian taxis to drop off passengers anywhere in Singapore rather than at a designated spot, and for Singapore taxis to do likewise in Johor Bahru.

PM Wong noted that the demand for cross-border taxis has been increasing at a significant rate and that present services cannot cope with the rising demand.

He said this is an area with a lot of common ground between Singapore and Malaysia and there has been very good progress on discussions on this front, with updates expected soon.

Low-carbon electricity

Citing the Energy Market Authority’s recent award of conditional approval for a proposal by Sembcorp Utilities to

import low-carbon electricity from Sarawak into Singapore

, PM Wong said there has been good momentum in the energy partnership between the two countries.

He said that Singapore and Malaysia are planning to expand the capacity for cross-border electricity trade through a second electricity interconnector. It was previously reported that the interconnection is targeted to start operations by 2030.

The first interconnection between the two countries was established in 1983 with the primary purpose of supporting both countries’ power grids.

Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ)

PM Wong said that Singapore-based companies have committed over $5.5 billion in investments in the JS-SEZ since January 2024.

He said that both countries welcome the ratification of the JS-SEZ agreement, which was

signed in January 2025

. “There is tremendous potential for this to grow further. We have only just begun.”

Under the wide-ranging agreement, both countries have committed to promoting and facilitating investments in 11 economic sectors from Singapore and other countries into the zone.

These sectors are manufacturing, logistics, food security, tourism, energy, the digital economy, the green economy, financial services, business services, education and health.

Airspace

The two countries are continuing to discuss three outstanding and longstanding bilateral issues – airspace, water and maritime boundaries.

PM Wong said that the three issues are complex and there are differences in views, but both sides will continue engaging in good faith.

“We look forward to working with Malaysia to achieve positive and durable outcomes with a balance of benefits for both sides,” he said.

He announced that a joint study on optimising air traffic management between the two countries will be carried out.

Talks on air traffic arrangement are aimed at meeting the current and future needs of both countries.

Discussions are centred on how the airports in the two countries – in Kuala Lumpur, Senai, Changi and Seletar – can operate safely and efficiently, in line with International Civil Aviation Organisation requirements.

Water supply

PM Wong said both sides have, “without prejudice to one another’s positions”, opened discussions on the price of raw and treated water.

Singapore and Malaysia also have a shared interest in increasing the yield and safeguarding the water quality of the Johor River, he said.

He noted that this will help guard against extreme weather changes or disruption scenarios, meet Johor’s growing needs, and meet Singapore’s needs as provided for under the 1962 Water Agreement.

He said that with the increase in demand for water and the potential for scenarios of disruption, officials from Malaysia and Singapore have been meeting to see if there are possibilities for collaboration, especially to create new infrastructure that will strengthen the resilience of the water supply.

Maritime boundary delimitation

PM Wong said officials on both sides have had several rounds of discussions on maritime boundaries.

The contested boundaries are in both the east and west of the border between the two countries.

Both sides better understand each other’s position, but require more time to resolve differences, he said.