KL delegation to E. Timor

KL delegation to E. Timor

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said Tuesday he would lead a delegation to East Timor to seek investment opportunities and help the violence-torn territory to develop.

The three-day visit from Wednesday was part of a cabinet decision to find out what sort of help Malaysia could give East Timor, Syed Hamid was quoted by the official news agency Bernama as saying.

It was also a follow-up to requests by pro-independence leader Xanana Gusmao and the UN administrator Sergio Vieira de Mello who had visited Malaysia separately earlier this year, he said.

"We hope it would be the first step towards establishing bilateral relations ... our attitude towards them is sincere and we will do whatever we can to develop their country," he added.

Bernama said the ministerial-level visit would be the first among Southeast Asian countries since East Timor voted for independence in a referendum conducted by the United Nations in August last year.

Syed Hamid said he would meet Gusmao and de Mello. His 21- member team of government and private sector representatives would also attend briefings by the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank in East Timor.