Malaysia is keen on strengthening its co-operation with India which is poised to become a developed country by 2020, the Malaysian Works Minister Sami Vellu said on Saturday.

"We look forward to strengthening our co-operation with the governments at the Centre and Kerala. We know for sure that India will be a developed country in the next two decades," he said at the Global Investor Meet in Kochi.

Patting the Kerala government for its recent reform initiatives, the minister said the proposal for constructing the 58 km Sabarimala road from Mannarkulanji to Pampa with Malaysian cooperation was in the final stages of consideration.

Kerala was one of the fastest growing states in India and the state had appropriately accorded priority to developing infrastructure to augment the needs of tourism and information technology sectors, he said.

He said Malaysia was already involved in various development projects in India. The opening up of economy had brought challenges as well as opportunities to India.

A 12-member Malaysian team is currently touring the state to visit the sites of proposed projects.