SINGAPORE: Malaysia and Singapore continue to strengthen bilateral relations through several understandings reached at the 12th Malaysia-Singapore Annual Leaders' Retreat (ALR) on Thursday.

This includes aviation issues, borders, national sovereignty as well as energy cooperation with Sarawak being one of the aspects given attention.

Prime Minister Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim said that negotiations on Singapore flight routes as well as routes from Malaysia to Sabah and Sarawak have reached preliminary agreement, subject to the condition that flights from the Peninsula to the states in Borneo are given easier and less restrictive access.

"This includes aircraft routes for Singapore use and also aircraft routes from Peninsular Malaysia or from East Malaysia, especially to Sabah and Sarawak which are much larger.

"So we agree that if the purpose is to help coordinate and facilitate Singapore's travel, we also impose conditions so that routes are guaranteed to be easy and free for flights from Malaysia or the Peninsula to Sabah, Sarawak and the east," he said during a press conference after the 12th ALR here.

The press conference was also attended by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Amar Fadillah Yusof, Sarawak Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri (Dr) Abang Abdul Rahman Zohari Tun Datuk Abang Openg, Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan, Transport Minister Anthony Loke, Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan, and Johor Menteri Besar Dato' Onn Hafiz Ghazi.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister also stressed that Malaysia and Singapore have a strong agreement on the energy transition agenda and electricity imports, including energy to be supplied from Sarawak.

"There has been a consensus in this area. "We want to ensure that Sarawak, which has surplus energy, can easily export and we can guarantee that the needs of Peninsular Malaysia are met as well as those of Singapore," he explained.

The Prime Minister has also informed the relevant agencies, especially under the Ministry of Energy Transition and Water Transformation, about the matter to take immediate action.

Earlier, Dato' Seri Anwar and Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and other leaders witnessed the exchange of three Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs), namely between the Malaysian Ministry of Home Affairs and the Singapore Ministry of Transport, the Malaysian Ministry of Home Affairs and the Singapore Ministry of Home Affairs, and the Malaysian Ministry of Health and the Singapore Ministry of Health. -UKASnews