K UALA LUMPUR-Cambodia may seek a soft loan from Malaysia to pay for the repair of four patrol boats by a Malaysian shipyard, First Prime Minister Prince Norodom Ranariddh said on Aug 20.

Ranariddh said Cambodia's navy had signed a contract with a private firm in Malaysia to refurbish its naval vessels which were used to patrol Cambodian waters to "take care of its natural resources".

"We will need time to pay for this through a soft loan, but we have no answer yet from Malaysia" he said at a media briefing on the second to last day of his five day official visit to Malaysia.

According to the Malaysia's Star newspaper, Malaysia's HLLS Holdings Berhad has begun work on the refurbishing of two of four Royal Cambodian Navy patrol boats at shipyard in the Malaysian state of Penang.

The refurbishing project, expected to cost $3 million for each of the Russian-made patrol boats, is expected to be finished in two years.

Ranariddh said during his visit several memoranda of understanding and agreements were signed between both the Malaysian and Cambodian governments as well private sector firms.

He said Malaysia will send delegations to Cambodia in the near future to set up pilot projects as well as to assist in agriculture science and technology projects.