The third bridge Friendship bridge for Malaysia and Singapore

Recently Malaysia Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's has proposed to counterpart neighbor Singapore to build “Friendship Bridge”. The proposed plan to build a Malaysia-Singapore “Friendship Bridge” has received the thumbs up from both sides as it will strengthen close ties between the two countries.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak proposed the Friendship Bridge at a press conference with his Singapore counterpart Lee Hsien Loong after the two-day annual Malaysia-Singapore Leaders' Retreat in Putrajaya last week. Community leaders said the proposed friendship bridge would improve road connectivity and serve as a symbol of growing friendship between the two nations.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib said no deadline had been set for the commencement of the friendship bridge project for now. Once the friendship bridge is built, it would be the catalyst for rapid growth in southern Johor especially Iskandar Malaysia and meet Singapore’s desire to increase its investments in Malaysia.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib mentioned that Singapore is keen on having the third bridge and it is something which we (Malaysia and Singapore) will pursue. Najib, who is also finance minister, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop had been asked to jointly conduct a feasibility study on the third bridge project with his Singaporean counterpart. They are expected to appoint a consultant and determine the projected cost. He said the cost of constructing the friendship bridge would be shared equally by the two countries.

For the moment, there are total 2 traffic passages to link Malaysia state Johor to Singapore; one is Johor Bahru-Woodland Causeway and another one is Second Link at Gelang Patah-Tuas. Both the Causeway and Second Link are unable to meet growing traffics in recent years as both country economic activities growing further. Last year, causeway traffic hits more than 100 million people to travel between Johor and Singapore, and it cause heavy causeway traffic jam at the checkpoint. Every people spend at least 1 hours and above to go through the causeway traffic to the checkpoint. The third bridge Friendship Bridge will definitely ease the causeway traffic flow at the Causeway and the Second Link.

The proposed Friendship Bridge is expected to further spur the economic growth of Iskandar Malaysia which encompasses south Johor. Up to date, Singapore is the biggest investor in the Iskandar Malaysia Special Economic Zone. If the proposed third bridge goes as planned, Johor will be easily accessed via land from Singapore and vice-versa through three locations. It will enhance the connectivity and bring bilateral economic benefits for both countries in the long term.

Johor - Singapore Causeway

Tuas - Gelang Patah Second Link