On a high mobility two-dimensional hole gas (2DHG) in a GaAs/GaAlAs heterostructure we study the interaction correction to the Drude conductivity in the ballistic regime, kBT τ /h > 1. It is shown that the 'metallic' behaviour of the resistivity (dρ/dT > 0) of the low-density 2DHG is caused by hole-hole interaction effect in this regime. We find that the temperature dependence of the conductivity and the parallelfield magnetoresistance are in agreement with this description, and determine the Fermi-liquid interaction constant F σ 0 which controls the sign of dρ/dT .It is well known that electron-electron interaction gives rise to a quantum correction to the classical (Drude) conductivity caused by impurity scattering [1]. Its manifestation can be quite different in the two regimes which relate the quasi-particle interaction time,h/k B T , to momentum relaxation time, τ : diffusive (k B T τ /h < 1), and ballistic (k B T τ /h > 1). So far the interaction correction to the conductivity of two-dimensional (2D) systems has been studied, both theoretically and experimentally, only in the diffusive regime, which is applicable to lowmobility (small τ ) systems [1]. Experimentally, the interaction correction was seen to be negative and produce a logarithmic decrease of the resistivity with increasing temperature, similar to the interference correction due to weak localisation (WL). Theory, however, suggests that the sign of the interaction effect in the diffusive regime can be different, dependent on the value of the interaction constant F σ 0 . Thus the correction can become positive and give rise to a 'metallic' temperature dependenceThe role of interactions in the conductance of 2D systems has now been intensely discussed, after the observation of the'metallic' behaviour in some low-density, highmobility 2D systems [3]. If one attempts to apply the conventional interaction theory, it can be seen that in high mobility structures the diffusion approximation becomes invalid even at low T . Recently, a theory of the interaction correction in the ballistic and intermediate regimes has been developed [4]. Stimulated by this theory, in this work we examine the role of the hole-hole interaction effects in a 2D hole gas (2DHG) which shows a 'metallic' ρ(T ). We analyse the temperature dependence of the conductivity and positive magnetoresistance in parallel field, and show that these two main features of the 'metallic' state can be explained by the interaction effect. It has the same origin as the logarithmic correction studied earlier [1], but now manifests itself in the ballistic regime.The interaction theory [4] considers elastic (coherent) electron scattering on the modulated density of other electrons (Friedel oscillation) caused by an impurity with a short-range potential. The phase of the Friedel oscillation, ∆p ∝ exp(i2k F r), is such that the wave scattered from the impurity interferes constructively with the wave scattered from the oscillation, Fig. 1 (a), leading to the quantum correction to the Drude conductivity σ...