ISLAMABAD, May 3: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz will leave for Kuala Lumpur, capital city of Malaysia, on Wednesday night aboard a special aircraft on the first leg of his Southeast Asian tour that will also take him to Brunei, Thailand and Singapore. The main focus of the eight-day tour is to develop economic and commercial linkages with Asean countries.

In Kuala Lumpur, the prime minister will hold formal delegation-level talks with his Malaysian counterpart Abdullah Ahmed Badawi on Thursday. The two leaders will review all aspects of bilateral relations and discuss regional as well as global issues.

Bilateral talks would cover cooperation in the fields of economy, trade, investment, culture, and tourism, foreign ministry officials said. A number of agreements in the economic, culture and tourism sectors are expected to be signed between the two sides during the visit.

The prime minister will also meet Pakistani community in Malaysia. On Friday he will deliver a keynote address to the Asian Leadership Institute and also address the Pakistan-Malaysia Business Forum.

Prime Minister Aziz will be accompanied by Foreign Secretary Riaz Mohammad Khan and nine cabinet members — seven federal ministers and two ministers of state.

The seven federal ministers include Jehangir Tareen (Industries and Production), Sikandar Hayat Bosan (Food, Agriculture & Livestock), Awais Leghari (Information Technology), Ghulam Sarwar Khan (Labour, Manpower & Overseas Pakistanis), Babar Khan Ghauri (Ports & Shipping), Nouraiz Shakoor (Science and Technology) and Dr Ghazi Gulab Jamal (Tourism). The two state ministers are Hina Rabbani Khar (Economic Affairs) and Dr Shahzad Waseem (Interior).

Parliamentarians, bureaucrats, businessmen, media representatives and security personnel will be part of prime minister’s 79-member entourage.