PRESS DIGEST - Malaysia - March 19

Following are the main stories in Malaysian newspapers. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

ALL NEWSPAPERS

- Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi unveiled a new smaller cabinet, dropped senior ministers and brought in 50 percent new faces on Tuesday, with 16 of the 32 ministers being new-comers and abolishing the post of parliamentary secretary to ensure government members attend parliament.

THE STAR (www.thestar.com.my)

- IOI Corp Bhd (IOIB.KL: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) has proposed to acquire major stakes in several plantation companies in Sarawak that own a combined 44,350 hectares in the state for 439.85 million ringgit ($139 million), IOI Corp said in a statement.

- SP Setia Bhd (SETI.KL: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) is confident of achieving its original sales target of 1.8 billion ringgit for the year ending October 31 after it gets a clearer picture of the stance of the new state administrations in Selangor and Penang towards business.

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

- Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi reiterated on Tuesday that he had been given the mandate to form the government even though the Barisan Nasional (National Front) won with only a simple majority in the 12th general election.

BUSINESS TIMES (www.btimes.com.my)