PRESS DIGEST - Malaysia - Aug 19
Following are the main stories in Malaysian newspapers. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
THE STAR (www.thestar.com.my)
-- People will no longer need to state their race in official forms soon, Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said.
-- The improvement in orders seen in the electronics sector in Penang in the second quarter is expected to expand into the third and fourth quarters, industry players said.
BUSINESS TIMES (www.btimes.com.my)
-- Straits of Malacca Partners Sdn Bhd (SOMP) has proposed to build a $12.5 billion bridge connecting Malaysia and Indonesia, a project that was mooted 14 years ago, SOMP chairman Ibrahim Zain said.
-- The AmBank Group is currently working on some 5 billion Malaysian ringgit ($1.41 billion) corporate bond deals that it hopes to conclude by its fiscal year ending March 31 next year, its managing director of the treasury and markets division, Teng Chean Choy said.
NEW STRAITS TIMES (www.nst.com.my)
-- "No" to health curfew. Both the National Security Council and the Health Ministry said the situation in the country was manageable, with the influenza A (H1N1) mortality rate at only 0.007 percent.
-- The first batch of volunteer policemen from Rela and the Civil Defence Department began their duties in the city on Tuesday, deputy city police chief Abdul Samah Mat said.
THE EDGE FINANCIAL DAILY (www.theedgemalaysia.com)
-- Directors of Unico-Desa Plantations Bhd (UICO.KL) had minorities pelting questions at them in Tuesday's fiery AGM, regarding a lawsuit over a related-party transaction involving the sale of shares in its unlisted parent company, Unico Holdings Bhd.
-- Hong Leong Bank (HLBB.KL) is eyeing stakes in Asean banks, as part of its strategy to increase its presence in the region, its group managing director Yvonne Chia said.
THE MALAYSIAN RESERVE (www.themalaysianreserve.com)
-- Malaysia wants to reduce its budget deficit next year from the projected 7.6 percent for this year by cutting its operating expenditure by 15 percent and may revise state subsidies, Second Finance Minister Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah said.
-- AMMB Holdings Bhd (AMMB.KL), the holdings company of the AmBank Group, is in talks with clients seeking to issue bonds valued up to five billion ringgit as risk aversion eased amidst limited supply, the managing director of Ambank's treasury & markets division Teng Chean Choy said.
THE SUN (www.sun2surf.com)
-- Bukit Aman's commercial crime department is investigating alleged irregularities amounting to up to one billion ringgit over the Port Klang Free Zone project, Port Klang Authority chairman Lee Hwa Beng said.
-- Signs of optimism have started to emerge in the bond market, Bank Negara Malaysia governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz said.
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