Malaysia-Singapore Leaders’ Retreat: What both PMs agreed on to resolve airspace, maritime boundary issues

At the leaders’ retreat, Malaysia and Singapore also signed MOUs to cooperate in the areas of higher education, urban development, family development, carbon capture and storage, carbon credits, as well as preventing and combatting transnational crimes.

In addition, both countries signed a Letter of Intent for the Malaysia-Singapore English Volunteers Programme, in a follow-up to Malaysia Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s suggestion during his first meeting with Singapore counterpart Lawrence Wong in June last year.

Malaysia’s Yayasan Guru Tun Hussein Onn and the Singapore International Foundation are in discussions to conduct a pilot programme later this year. Under the programme, volunteers from Singapore will assist with the teaching of the English language in selected schools and states in Malaysia.

HIGHER EDUCATION

Singapore and Malaysia will further strengthen cooperation in the field of higher education, and pave the way for more extensive institutional partnerships, people-to-people exchanges, and information sharing between Malaysia and Singapore.

Under this MOU, both parties will encourage and promote higher education cooperation between institutes of higher learning in the areas of staff and student exchanges, exchange of information and experiences, staff training programmes, exchange of scholarships, and the organisation of joint activities and programmes.

URBAN DEVELOPMENT

The MOU on urban development aims to strengthen exchanges in urban development between Singapore’s Ministry of National Development and Malaysia’s Ministry of Housing and Local Government.

Under this MOU, officials from both ministries will deepen mutual learning in areas such as land use planning to create sustainable and liveable cities, provision of good quality and smart homes, as well as municipal management. Knowledge-sharing on these topics will be done through initiatives such as study visits and technical exchanges.

FAMILY DEVELOPMENT

The MOU on cooperation in the fields of social welfare, women and persons with disabilities’ empowerment, family, children and community development aims to strengthen and promote social development cooperation between Singapore and Malaysia, given both countries’ “mutual interests and similar values” in areas pertaining to the family, Singapore’s Ministry of Social and Family Development said.

Areas of collaboration will include fostering relationships between government institutions and organisations involved in social development, exchanging information on policies and programmes, institutional visits for networking and technical cooperation, and joint workshops, seminars and training programs to build human capacity in social work and community development.

CARBON CAPTURE AND STORAGE

Under this MOU, Singapore and Malaysia will engage in bilateral discussions to enable cross-border carbon capture and storage (CCS) and discuss components of a legally binding government-to-government agreement.

Both countries will also share best practices and information on CCS, and facilitate industry-led research projects where relevant. A joint committee comprising representatives from both sides will also be established to facilitate the implementation of the MOU.

CCS is the process of capturing, transporting and permanently storing carbon dioxide thereby avoiding releasing emissions into the atmosphere. The process could decarbonise hard-to-abate emissions for which there are no ready alternative solutions, in sectors such as energy and chemicals, power and waste.

CARBON CREDITS

The signing of the MOU to collaborate on carbon credits under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement signals Singapore’s and Malaysia’s intent to pursue voluntary cooperation to achieve emissions reduction targets set out in their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC), Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry said.

Under the MOU, Singapore and Malaysia will work towards a legally binding Implementation Agreement which establishes a bilateral framework for the generation and international transfer of correspondingly adjusted carbon credits aligned with Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.

The Implementation Agreement will enable the development of carbon credits projects that unlock additional mitigation potential, promote sustainable development and deliver benefits to local communities.

TRANSNATIONAL CRIMES

Under the MOU, Singapore and Malaysia will enhance cooperation in combatting transnational crimes such as drug trafficking, terrorism, cybercrime and scams, including cyber-enabled scams.

The home affairs ministries of both countries will also set up a joint working committee to identify and develop activities, policies or programmes to be conducted under the MOU framework.