Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi arrives in India on Sunday for a five-day visit during which Kuala Lumpur hopes to bag a large chunk of construction contracts in Asia?s fourth-largest economy. Badawi, who is accompanied by a large business delegation, is also expected to push New Delhi to lower palm oil duties, officials and analysts said. India is one of the largest importers of Malaysian palm oil.

?India and Malaysia share historical and cultural links. Today, Malaysia is India?s largest trading partner among ASEAN countries, with bilateral trade recording $3.2 billion and projected to cross $4 billion this year?, the Indian Foreign Ministry said ahead of his arrival. ?Malaysian companies play an active role in infrastructure development in India including in the construction of highways and ports. Similarly, Indian companies... have been engaged in the Malaysian industrial sector since the 1970s?, it said. India, the world?s biggest edible oils importer, is likely to increase purchases as it needs more supply to cover increased consumption and a delay in arrivals of domestic oil in the market, traders said.

It imports 50 percent of its annual edible oil requirement of nearly 9 million tonnes, the bulk of which is palm oil from Malaysia and Indonesia. Abdullah is due to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other Indian leaders, and to hold talks with business chiefs to boost bilateral trade. The current trade balance is firmly in Malaysia?s favour. New Delhi was expected to urge Malaysia to use its influence and help create an Asian free trade market with ASEAN countries by 2015, a trade official said. Malaysia assumes the chairmanship of Association of South East Asia Nations (ASEAN) next year.

Malaysian firms have bagged contracts worth more than $2 billion for road construction in India, including a role in an ambitious highway programme connecting the four corners of the vast South Asian country. In 1995, India passed a law to allow private participation in highway building. This led to a 540 billion rupee project to widen more than 13,000 km of highways from two to four lanes. India now plans to encourage private investment in the shipping and port sectors and help scrap old procedures that hinder growth in maritime-related areas as part of a 14-year-old economic reform programme. So far, 17 port projects costing 40.5 billion rupees have already been approved, while 19 more involving 34.8 billion rupees are under consideration or open for bids.

Unni KRISHNAN