Mohd Nur, who now oversees the development of HSR, says once the market sensing exercise is over in December both countries can work to finalise the bilateral agreement in time for signing at the annual leaders’ retreat next year.
He says he does not foresee that the current economic slowdown - with the ringgit at an all-time low - will affect the project roll out.
"This is a long-term project, the implementation of multi-year programme. I don’t see how the current situations are going to affect the cash flow patterns,” said Mohd Nur. “We are hoping that we can see progress smoothly and the quicker we do it, the quicker we see the benefits from it."
The tender process will only begin later next year after the signing of the bilateral agreement.
Japan and China, as well as several European countries have already expressed keen interest in the HSR project. They include Japan Railways and China CRRC Corporation.
