Malaysia's trade minister Rafidah Aziz and Chile's foreign minister Ignacio Walker said both countries would begin studying the feasibility of a free trade deal after a meeting here.

"We are very pleased to have moved this step forward," Walker told reporters after the meeting.

"Today we have 230 million dollars of trade between our two countries, and we plan to sell the idea of Chile becoming a springboard, a gateway, a platform to Latin America because of the political and economic stability of our country," said the minister, who is on a one-day visit to Malaysia.

Both countries agreed to look into a free trade agreement (FTA) after a bilateral leaders' meeting at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in November, said Malaysia's trade ministry.

Officials are expected to start discussions in February, with the study to be completed by the end of 2006, said Walker.

Chile is Malaysia's fourth largest trading partner among Latin American countries, with bilateral trade shooting up in 2004 by 77.7 percent to 232.4 million dollars, said the ministry.