Japan to help Malaysia improve rail transport in the country

KUALA LUMPUR: The Japan Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry will assist Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) to improve the railway transportation in Malaysia.
SPAD chairman Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar (pix) said Malaysia would benefit much from Japan's 51 years vast experience in managing the Shinkansen high speed train.
"The joint initiative have identified in which area which we could learn from Japan.
This is also intended to further expand the area of cooperation an collaboration between Japanese ministries, agencies and institutions with SPAD as the supervisory body and facilitator of a high speed rail project in Malaysia," he said.
Syed Hamid was spoke to reporters after launching the 2nd High Speed Rail Symposium titled 'Sharing 51 years experience of the Shinkansen High Speed Rail' at Grand Hyatt Hotel here in KL.
Syed Hamid said the Japanese will provide SPAD with technical assistance such as:
» Human resource development
» Safety regulations and reliability
» Natural disaster preparedness and mitigation
» Private initiative and sound management
» Transport oriented local development.
He added the cooperation will also be in line with the laws and regulations of each country.
"The cooperation may be carried out particularly through policy dialogues, information exchanges, workshops and seminars on relevant laws and regulations in cooperation with private companies including Japan Railways," Syed Hamid said.
Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said Malaysia can learn a lot from the experience that the Shinkansen have.
"Shinkensen has long been recognized as one of the most advanced transportation technologies in the world.
They have much to offer to the world in terms of high speed rail and its infrastructure," Liow said.
Meanwhile, Syed Hamid said discussion on the high speed rail (HSR) linking Kuala Lumpur and Singapore has been exceptionally good.
The signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between both governments is expected this July.