Singapore, Malaysia should boost ASEAN image: Goh

Singapore, Malaysia should boost ASEAN image: Goh

SINGAPORE (AFP): Singapore and Malaysia should work to produce "some good news" for Southeast Asia, whose image has been frayed by political turmoil in key countries, Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong said.

In a speech late Wednesday welcoming Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi to Singapore, Goh said the two countries were in the best position to help fellow members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

"As two of the best performing economies in ASEAN, we should work together to help the region recover from its economic problems," he said.

"For example, we should produce some good news together to dispel the generally gloomy assessment of our region by foreign investors."

Analysts have said that political problems in Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand and disputes over human rights abuses in army-ruled Myanmar have dissuaded investment in the region.

Northeast Asia, which covers the giant Chinese market, has been luring investors at the expense of ASEAN, which also includes oil-rich Brunei and the less developed economies of Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos.

"We must therefore adjust our economic strategy. More than ever, we now should work together to compete as a grouping against other regions," Goh said.

"In this regard, strong relations between our two countries will catalyze greater cooperation in ASEAN," he said.

Singapore has been criticized for negotiating bilateral free trade agreements with several countries outside of ASEAN.

But Singapore officials have defended the strategy as a way to "reach out" to the world and draw attention to the region. They also maintain that such interlocking pacts will constitute building blocks to a more open world trading system.

A fence-mending visit by the Malaysian deputy prime minister began on an upbeat note after Singapore extended an imminent deadline to move a Malaysian-owned railway station here.

Goh said after meeting Abdullah late Wednesday that he was "happy" to extend the February 10 deadline in response to an earlier request by Malaysian premier Mahathir Mohamad.

At the meeting, there were no signs of an earlier racially- charged debate between officials and the media over remarks by Goh which favorably compared the achievements of Singaporean Malays to Malays in Malaysia.

Goh and Abdullah said they agreed the old railway station building in the heart of Singapore -- which still houses Malaysia's quarantine and immigration facilities -- would be relocated along with the facilities to Kranji near the northern border.

Many Singaporeans see the inner-city Malaysian-owned station -- a relic of the British occupation of Malaya -- as an affront to their sovereignty.

However, transferring the station to Kranji would need an amendment to a 1990 agreement which specifies that the station be moved to either Bukit Timah or Woodlands, also near the border.

"In principle we have agreed, but the details have to be studied," Goh said after meeting Abdullah at the Istana state complex.