This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on April 12, 2019

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is close to sealing an agreement with China to revive the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project, said Sin Chew Daily.

Quoting a party that is involved in the negotiation, Sin Chew reported on its website that the chairman of the Council of Eminent Persons, Tun Daim Zainuddin, had arrived in Beijing to iron out the final details of the agreement with Chinese authorities.

Daim was expected to hold a press conference to announce the outcome of the negotiation, which has lasted for more than six months, the report said.

The venue and date for the signing ceremony would only be confirmed upon the conclusion of the talks.

A representative of the Attorney General’s Chambers is expected to represent Malaysia in signing the agreement.

A source close to the project confirmed with The Edge Financial Daily that the negotiation is at its tail end.

It is learnt that to date, top-level discussions between the two countries on the project have been encouraging.

“There is light at the end of the tunnel, unlike previously when there were a lot of uncertainties,” the source said.

“Hopefully the negotiation can be finalised this week,” the source added.

Sin Chew earlier reported that the cost of the ECRL had been slashed to between RM39 billion and RM46 billion, from the original sum of RM60 billion.

The ground-breaking ceremony for the ECRL was officiated by former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak in August 2017. The initial planning for the project guided a distance of 688km from Kelantan to Port Klang.