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.