PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia's newly appointed Economic Affairs Minister, Azmin Ali, said on Saturday (May 19) he has been tasked to review mega projects the previous government embarked on, including the High Speed Rail (HSR) project linking up Kuala Lumpur to neighbouring Singapore.



An agreement had been signed between Malaysia and Singapore under previous prime minister Najib Razak to build the rail link - but Azmin said this did not mean it could not be reviewed.



"Certainly we need to renegotiate certain terms. We want to see whether the whole process was transparent or otherwise," he said. "So it is my duty to get a team and look and sit down and discuss. And we may have to renegotiate all these projects."



.@azminali says as Economic Affairs Minister he'll be reviewing mega projects including the KL-Singapore HSR. "Certainly we need to renegotiate certain terms. And we want to see whether the whole process was transparent or otherwise." pic.twitter.com/ZLM1KmXF2h — Sumisha Naidu (@sumishanaidu) May 19, 2018

Mr Azmin was speaking to reporters after a meeting with Malaysia Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad about the expectations of his role, saying he did not know this portfolio would be given to him until Friday evening.



He is currently Selangor Chief Minister and will be meeting the Sultan of Selangor this evening before making an announcement on whether he will be stepping down to take up the federal post.





Prior to meeting Azmin, Dr Mahathir had received Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who said the KL-Singapore HSR was not discussed.



The rail project was slated to have commenced operations by 2026.