Malaysia today joined the contenders hoping to host a new information-sharing centre on piracy being set up in response to increasing attacks worldwide.

Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said Malaysia's long coastline next to the Malacca Straits, one of the world's busiest shipping lanes and a piracy hotspot, made it ideal to host the Japanese-funded centre.

However, Malaysia faces competition from neighbouring Singapore, Indonesia and South Korea.

"We can cooperate with other countries in Southeast Asia and the region to monitor possible activities of pirates in our coastal areas and our sea lanes," he told reporters.

Earlier Syed Hamid Albar met his Japanese counterpart Yoriko Kawaguchi, who is on a two-day visit to Malaysia.

Frequent attacks

The Malacca Straits between Indonesia and Malaysia is regarded as Japan's oil life line from the Middle East and it proposed the new centre to exchange piracy information.

Pirate attacks on seafarers worldwide hit a new high in the first nine months of the year and Indonesia accounted for 25 percent of the total, possibly owing to the separatist violence in Aceh province, a maritime watchdog said last month.

The London-based International Maritime Bureau (IMB) said "the increase in violence is of great concern," and identified Indonesia, Bangladesh, Nigeria and the Malacca Straits where pirate attacks are frequent.

Later, Hatsuhisa Takashima, press secretary to Kawaguchi said Japan hoped that the contending countries would decide among themselves and come up with a decision. - AFP