Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said he had informed the AirAsia group chief executive officer Tony Fernandes on the matter and the latter had agreed to study it as soon as possible.

"Uzbekistan President Islam Karimov wanted us to establish air linkages and I think AirAsia could play that role as it is a low-cost carrier," Abdullah who is on a third-day of the four days official visit to this country told Malaysian journalist, here.

At the moment, Uzbekistan Airways flies twice a week to Malaysia and vice-versa while Malaysian Airlines cooperated with the airline through code-sharing basis.

On the lack of implementation of Memoranda of Understandings (MOUs) signed in the past, Abdullah believed the business climate in this country would improve as the country further liberalise its economy.

The MOUs include cooperations in the fields of air services, security and counter-terrorism, trade, tourism, mineral resources, information and communication technology.

Uzbekistan, the landlocked country located in Central Asia, gained independence in 1991 after breaking up from the Soviet Union.

Admitting it was quite difficult to deal import-export with landlocked country, Abdullah said both countries managed to increase their bilateral trade to US$40 million last year compared to US$12 million in 2006.

Malaysia’s main export are vegetable oil, palm oil, electrical and electronic equipment, furniture, rubber products, printed material and leather produts while Uzbekistan’s main export include cotton and air services.

Abdullah said although the trade figure increase significantly, the figure was still considered as small due to vast potentials of business opportunities both countries could offer.

For example, he said, Uzbekistan President was willing to offer more oil and gas concessions to Malaysian national oil company, Petronas, as it had shown tremendous capability in carry out its activities in the country.

Petronas has invested US$90 million thus far for exploration and oil and gas projects in four regions - Baisun, Aral Sea, Surkhanski and Urga.

Petronas investment in Uzbekistan in the next three years is estimated to be around US$150 million to US$200 million.

Abdullah said Petronas has also carried out its social responsibility project in this country by offering several scholarships to Uzbeks to study in oil and gas industry at the Universiti Teknologi Petronas in Malaysia.

Tourism he said was another potential areas for joint cooperation between the two countries as Uzbekistan could offer Islamic tourism package especially to visit Samarkand, city where Islamic civilisation began.