Malaysia will provide Indonesia with technological expertise to construct a 20-kilometer monorail system in Jakarta costing RM1.52 billion, officials said.

The project would begin in 2004 and was expected to be completed by mid-2006, Al-Jeffery Ibrahim, a director of Kuala Lumpur Infrastructure group, told reporters.

A memorandum of understanding (MOU) on the project was witnessed by Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri on the sidelines of a meeting here.

The MOU was inked by Jakarta governor Sutiyoso on behalf of Jakarta city and PT Indonesia Transit Central. Malaysia's MTrans Holdings was represented by David Chew, its chairman.

Kuala Lumpur Infrastructure group, which is building a monorail system in Kuala Lumpur, is the parent company of MTrans.

Al-Jeffery said MTrans was eying similar projects in Pakistan, Sri Lanka and China. - AFP