Damascus - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez will start a two-day visit to Syria on Thursday during which he will hold talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Chavez, who was in Algeria on Wednesday, heads a delegation that includes Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicholas Maduro, the Secretariat of the Presidency and ministers of mining, energy, petroleum, and trade.

Venezuelan Ambassador in Damascus Imad Saab was quoted by the official SANA news agency as saying that 11 agreements covering various fields of cooperation will be signed during the visit.

On Friday, Chavez is scheduled to visit the southern city of Swaida, which is dubbed "little Venezuela" because it has a large number of residents who carry both the Syrian and Venezuelan nationalities.

There around 1 million people of Syrian descent living in Venezuela, according to the Venezuelan Embassy in Damascus.

Chavez is on an 11-day trip to Libya, Algeria, Syria, Iran, Belarus and Russia. He went to Tripoli for celebrations of the 40th anniversary of Gaddafi's rule. (dpa)