The two countries are expected to enhance their close relationship, especially in the areas of economic and human capital development.

Abdullah and Uzbek President Islam Karimov, are expected to ink memorandum of understanding in promoting cooperation in science and technology as well as higher education, according to Wisma Putra.

Malaysian Ambassador to Uzbekistan Abdul Aziz Harun said bilateral trade between the two countries was quite insignificant at the moment, with total trade at US$36.4 million for Jan-Sept this year compared to a total of US$33.3 million for the whole of 2007 and US$25.5 million in 2006.

Malaysia’s main exports include vegetable oil, palm oil, electrical and electronics equipment, furniture, rubber products and printed materials while Uzbekistan’s main exports are cotton and air services.

Abdul Harun said the main reason for the lack of bilateral trade could be attributed to Uzbekistan’s landlocked location which incurred higher transportation cost for Malaysian products.

Other problems, he said, included the lack of a reliable banking system in this country that could support trading operations, minimum credit facilities and Uzbekistan Central Bank’s tight control on the outflow of hard currency to support the import and export sector.

Currently, Malaysia’s investment in Uzbekistan is small in terms of capital and size of projects, with the focus only on oil and gas exploration by Petronas, the national petroleum company, tourism and banking.

Investment flow from Malaysia has largely been affected since 1998 when Malaysia underwent a financial crisis, he said.

He said Petronas has invested about US$50 million in oil and gas exploration and production projects in Uzbekistan, covering the Baisun, Aral Sea, Surkhanski and Urga areas.

Abdul Harun said Petronas’s investment in Uzbekistan was estimated to be US$150 million to US$200 million in the next three years.

In the field of higher education, Universiti Tekonologi Mara (UiTM) has been providing training courses to Uzbek teachers and other academic staff including professors since the late 1990s.

Abdullah’s itinerary for Sunday includes a visit to the Abul Qosim Handicraft Madrassah and a dinner hosted by the Malaysian ambassador.

On Monday, an official welcoming ceremony will be held at the Presidential Residence, Durmen, here, which will be Abdullah’s official residence during the visit.

Both leaders would hold a four-eye meeting, to be followed by a delegation meeting and the signing of the two memoranda of understanding at the same venue, Abdul Harun said.

Later, Abdullah will be briefed on the Petronas operations in this country at a hotel here, after which he will have tea with the Malaysian community at the same venue.

Abdullah, accompanied by his wife Datin Seri Jeanne Abdullah, is also scheduled to visit the Hazrati Imam Complex here where the oldest Quran is kept.

In the evening, they will attend the official dinner hosted by Islam Karimov at the Presidential Residence.

On Tuesday, Abdullah is scheduled to be in Samarkand, some 350km south of Tashkent, to visit the Imam Bukhari Mausoleum, Bibihanum Mosque, Samarkand Market and Registan Square.

He will leave Samarkand on Wednesday morning and continue his Central Asian tour by visiting Turkmenistan for two days.

This is Abdullah’s first visit to Uzbekistan in his capacity as prime minister while Islam Karimov visited Malaysia in June 1992 and October 2005.