On the construction of the high-speed rail link between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur announced at the fourth Malaysia-Singapore Leaders’ Retreat, SMU Vice President (Business Development & External Relations) Associate Professor of Finance Annie Koh said, “Industries across both sides of the causeway have hailed the high-speed rail as the way forward for the collaboration of both countries. Not only will tourism-related industries benefit from this, many of the visitors attending conferences and conventions in Singapore will now have good reasons to take short day-trips all the way to Kuala Lumpur... Many of Singapore’s SMEs are greeting the news positively as they see possibilities to engage more workers in the outskirts of Johor to work at the factories in Iskandar and perhaps, stay in their own homes outside of Johor”. She added that the connectivity went beyond moving people – it can also lead to the movement of goods and completing access for perishable products to make it to market within shorter times and still stay fresh. That connectivity will elevate the Asean collaboration to another whole new level. “We are now definitely changing the game, and Asean integration no longer looks like a far-fetched dream – the aspiration to be one common market has started to look a lot more attainable and (Prime) Minister Najib is right, this is a game changer,” she added.