PRESS DIGEST - Malaysia - Sept 17

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)

-- Banks are only anticipating modest or flat growth in trade financing this year as the industry is still recovering from the steep slump in trade financing demand in the first quarter, OCBC Bank (M) Bhd head of global trade finance Chuang Boon Kheng said.

BUSINESS TIMES (www.btimes.com.my)

-- Malaysia Airlines subsidiary Firefly has proposed that Malacca and Perak buy their own propeller-driven turboprop planes and lease them back to the carrier, a move that will result in lower air fares, its managing director Eddy Leong said.

-- French carmaker Renault SA, instead of Germany's Volkswagen AG (VOWG.DE), could end up being the technical partner of Proton Holdings Bhd (PROT.KL), a research house has suggested.

NEW STRAITS TIMES (www.nst.com.my)

-- The territorial dispute at Ambalat and terrorism may rank high on the agenda in talks between Foreign Affairs Minister Anifah Aman and his Indonesian counterpart, Hassan Wirajuda, today (Thursday) but they are likely to be overshadowed by recent issues that led to rising tension between the two countries.

THE EDGE FINANCIAL DAILY (www.theedgemalaysia.com)

-- The major shareholders of both The New Straits Times Press (Malaysia) Bhd (NSTP.KL) and Media Prima Bhd (MPRM.KL) have agreed to the privatisation of the former, sources said.

THE MALAYSIAN RESERVE (www.themalaysianreserve.com)

-- The world's third largest carmaker, Volkswagen AG (VW) (VOWG.DE) has not made a decision yet in regards to a possible tie-up with a Malaysian partner for the assembly of complete knocked-down vehicles in the country, VW said in a statement.

THE SUN (www.sun2surf.com)

-- Some 70 percent of the applications received up to January 1 for citizenship, entry permits and late registration of birth certificates have been cleared, and the Home Ministry is on track to process the rest by year end, its minister Hishammuddin Hussein said.

-- October 10 has been chosen as the date for Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA)'s extraordinary general meeting (EGM) that will decide once-and-for-all whether party president Ong Tee Keat's leadership gets the 2,377 delegates' stamp of approval, MCA secretary-general Wong Foon Meng said.

-- Coastal Contracts Bhd's (CTAL.KL) strength lies is in its 1.5 billion ringgit strong orderbook, OSK Research said.

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($1=3.494 Malaysian Ringgit)