Kuala Lumpur was a blaze of flower pots and welcoming billboards, spruced up in preparation for two regional summits being held here next week.

The construction sites which litter downtown Kuala Lumpur have either been hurriedly completed or boarded up, and large planter boxes with flowers and trees have sprung up overnight along the main routes into the city.

Security drills and motorcade dry-runs have shut down the city periodically this week, causing major traffic snarls in a city which already struggles to cope with its peak-hour traffic.

Helicopters with powerful flashlights searching beneath have buzzed around the city's landmark Petronas Twin Towers during the drills, but otherwise the security presence has been light.

The eleventh Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit will be held next Monday and Tuesday, followed by the inaugural East Asia summit which also includes China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and India.

The leaders will meet in the heart of Kuala Lumpur at the city's brand-new convention centre, where senior officials from Asean began convening on Wednesday.

The deputy superintendent of the Royal Malaysian Police, Abdul Aziz, said some 4,000 police would be deployed around the city for the summit.

"We will ensure the security from the moment (delegates) arrive at KLIA (Kuala Lumpur International Airport) to the moment they leave," he told AFP.

Hotels fully booked

Most city hotels reported full or near-full occupancy from the summit and associated events including business conventions and civil society conferences.

Television advertisements have started a breathless daily countdown to the event - although Malaysians have yet to be infected with the buzz.

And there have been grumbles over the gridlock caused by little-publicised rehearsals on the routes to be taken by diplomatic convoys.

"At least let the people know," said Peter Ow, the chairman of local cab company SW Taxis, adding that authorities had not properly informed drivers about the road closures.

"I hope they can do something to avoid the jams. Otherwise the public will have trouble when they want to travel."