SINGAPORE: Singapore and Malaysia have agreed to a land swap to resolve a dispute that has lingered since the two countries split 45 years ago.
The announcement was made on Monday by the prime ministers of the two countries at a joint news conference.
Malaysia will give up a train station it owns near downtown Singapore in return for six land parcels in the city-state to be controlled by M-S Pte. Ltd. — a venture 60 per cent owned by Malaysian state investment fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd and 40 per cent owned by Singapore's Temasek Holdings Ltd.
Malaysia held on to the station after it expelled Singapore from the brief federation the two sides formed in the mid-1960s and negotiations over it have taken place for decades.
"We are both delighted and relieved that we can put this behind us," Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said. "It makes good political sense and good commercial sense."
A joint statement said the two sides will decide the timing of the swap by the end of this year.
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong also said his government will support the construction of a rapid transit link between Singapore and Johor state in southern Malaysia.
He also said a separate 50-50 joint venture between Khazanah and Temasek would develop a wellness center in Johor.
The two sides disagreed on how to tax that project but agreed to abide by a decision to be handed down by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, Lee said.
"We don't have to agree on everything, but the important thing is to have the spirit to settle differences amicably," Najib said.