Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi paid a brief visit to Laos today, his first to the communist nation since taking office last year.

Abdullah held talks with his Lao counterpart Boungnang Vorachit and was also scheduled to meet with the communist nation's president, Khamtay Siphandone, the Bernama news agency reported.

It was the first visit to the country by a Malaysian premier since Laos joined the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) in 1997.

Later Monday, the Malaysian premier, who took over from veteran leader Dr Mahathir Mohamad on Oct 31, was due to fly to the Philippines as part of a "familiarisation" tour of the region.

He has already visited Brunei, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand and next week is scheduled to visit Cambodia, Vietnam and Burma. - AFP