KUALA LUMPUR. Aug 5 (Interfax-AVN) - At the Tuesday Russian- Malaysian business forum in Kuala-Lumpur, there was an active exchange of bilateral agreements in a number of fields signed earlier by companies from the two countries.
For example, AIROD of Malaysia and Russia's arms trader Rosoboronexport announced a deal for a batch of MI-17-1V helicopters.
Malaysia's Negara Bank and Russia's Vneshtorgbank signed a loan agreement to finance palm oil deliveries to Russia for USD50m.
The Russian Irkut corporation and Sapura Group exchanged documents on joint efforts in developing and manufacturing avionics.
Irkut also exchanged documents with Malaysian counterparts on the formation of a center to promote the Russian BE-200 aircraft on the regional market.
The Russia-ASEAN Cooperation Fund signed an agreement on the formation of a Russia-Malaysia business council with the Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute (ASLI), which has founded similar councils with the United States, Britain, China and India.
The size of the helicopter deal has not been disclosed. However, earlier reports said that in 1999, Russia delivered four such helicopters to Malaysia. They proved effective and Malaysia studied the possibility of acquiring 10 more to replace the outdated S-61A4 helicopters of which Malaysia has 28.
Malaysia has also shown interested in acquiring about 40 MI- 8AMTSh military transport helicopters.
The Kazan Helicopter Plant manufactures the MI-17-1V, which is designed for the transfer of arms and military equipment, landing, search and transport operations and evacuating wounded individuals. Thanks to its weapons and guidance equipment, it can be used in combat against tanks and ground force fire support.
Its civilian modification is widely used for cargo and passenger transportation, fire-fighting, and search and rescue operations.
Russia and Malaysia launched their military and technical relations in the mid-1990s when Malaysians purchased 18 MIG- 29SE/29UB fighter and trainer aircraft. Later, a joint venture was set up to maintain the services of Russian fighter jets in Malaysia. Furthermore, a Malaysian company invited the Kolomna Machine-Building Design Bureau to organize the production and maintenance services of Igla MANPADs in Malaysia.
2001 saw the Russian-Malaysian USD30m contract for Metis-2 anti-tank systems.
In April 2002, a USD48m contract for the transfer of Igla MANPADs to Malaysia was signed. Deliveries will last for three years. According to Malaysia, several hundred Iglas and Dzhigit supportable launchers and launch modules are in question.
Space exploration is another promising field for joint efforts. Malaysia has launched a satellite with a Russian rocket and there are possibilities of further partnership in this area, specifically involving mobile rocket systems. Thanks to its geographical location, Malaysia can be regarded as an ideal place for the construction of a spaceport and may develop into a regional center for the aerospace industry by 2015, experts say.