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Malaysia
This Week in AsiaPolitics

Mahathir’s government agrees to revive China-backed Bandar Malaysia project

  • The Prime Minister says the prime property deal in Kuala Lumpur is in the spirit of enhancing ties with China
  • It comes just a week after the two countries agreed to resume work on the East Coast Rail Link

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Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. Photo: Kyodo
Bhavan Jaipragas
Malaysia is reviving a China-backed prime Kuala Lumpur property project shelved two years ago, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said on Friday, in the latest indication that his government is rigorously ironing out bilateral sticking points ahead of next week’s Belt and Road Forum in Beijing.
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The revival of the multibillion dollar Bandar Malaysia project – put in cold storage in 2017 by Mahathir’s predecessor Najib Razak – comes just a week after his government signed a fresh deal with Beijing to resume stalled work on the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL), another megaproject with China links.

A local political analyst said the fresh development showed pragmatism on Mahathir’s part as he tempered his long held dim view of Beijing-funded projects in the interest of safeguarding bilateral ties with Malaysia’s biggest trading partner.

In a press conference in Kuala Lumpur, Mahathir said his government decided on Wednesday to revive the deal in the spirit of enhancing ties with China.

“Like the ECRL, the Bandar Malaysia project should be viewed within the larger context of fostering and cementing long-term bilateral relations between Malaysia and China while ensuring such projects add maximum economic value to the country,” he said.

Bandar Malaysia, like the rail link, is a brainchild of Najib and was conceptualised as a township that would house the Kuala Lumpur terminus of a Singapore-Malaysia high-speed rail link.

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