Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad was due to arrive in Yangoon later today for a two-day trip which comes at a critical time for Burma's junta as it prepares to embark on a national reconciliation process.

Some 300 officials and businesspeople are accompanying Mahathir on what is being billed as a business visit arranged to reciprocrate Burmese leader Senior General Than Shwe's trip to Malaysia last year.

But the visit is likely to cover more than just business, given the close ties between Mahathir and Than Shwe, whose regime is expected to soon begin a political dialogue with democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The two sides began talking in October 2000, in contacts brokered by veteran Malaysian diplomat and UN special envoy Razali Ismail.

An initial confidence-building phase has been completed, Aung San Suu Kyi said in May after her release from 19 months of house arrest.

Following Razali's eighth mission to the country earlier this month, she said the talks were on the brink of entering a political dialogue, throwing up an array of questions over what strategy the generals would pursue.

Constructive engagement

Mahathir's advice is likely to be highly valued, given his policy of constructive engagement with Burma which joined Asean in 1997 with Kuala Lumpur's sponsorship along with his standing as a strongman of authoritarian democracy in Southeast Asia.

"It has paid off, this constructive engagement and the fact that we've brought them into the Asean fraternity," Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said Friday.

"Some considered the development slow but there has definitely been positive changes. Isolation is not the answer."

To bring Burma closer to democracy, the foreign minister said Malaysia believed in continued encouragement and investment in the country because "economic development changes a lot of attitude and perception about things."

He said Mahathir planned to push the junta to speed up the reconciliation process, but added that no arrangements had been made for Asia's longest serving leader to meet Aung San Suu Kyi.

Mahathir has not previously met the Nobel peace laureate, but a Malaysian official said earlier this month that she had requested an appointment with him during his visit.

Two MoUs to be signed

On the business side of Mahathir's whirlwind trip, the two countries are to sign two memorandums of understanding (MoU).

These cover an offshore oil exploration contract between Malaysia's Petronas and Burma's Energy Ministry, and a study to construct mini-hydro plants at the Nga Moe Yeik and Tabuhla dams between Tepat Teknik Sdn. Bhd. and Burma's Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation.

Three tentative MoUs on steel exports, telecommunications and development of Yangon are also on the cards but await approval from the Burmese parties, according to Syed Hamid.

Mahathir is scheduled to hold talks with Than Shwe shortly after his arrival Sunday evening, before attending to a dinner hosted by the general.

On Monday, he will address the Malaysia-Burma Technology Conference and witness the signing of the MoUs. The premier will also observe the installation of a new high-tech passport screening system exported from Malaysia.

Malaysia is the fourth largest investor in Burma after Singapore, Britain and Thailand, with total investments of 2.23 billion ringgit (587 million dollars). AFP