PRESS DIGEST - Singapore newspapers - Dec 27

SINGAPORE, Dec 27 (Reuters) - The following are stories from Singapore newspapers on Thursday. Reuters has not verified these stories.

THE BUSINESS TIMES

- Morgan Stanley has expanded its Singapore real estate investment portfolio to include an unusual asset class - foreign workers' dormitories. An entity understood to be linked to the US bank recently bought three dormitories from JTC Corp for S$153 million ($105.4 million) and is said to have teamed up with a local party to purchase more such properties from the private sector, sources say.

- STX Pan Ocean Co Ltd STXP.SI (028670.KS) is establishing a new venture in the Middle East. The joint venture was incorporated in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, yesterday, following an agreement earlier this year between its wholly-owned subsidiary STX Pan Ocean Singapore Pte Ltd and Kopak Shipping Company. Kopak is a Pakistani dry-bulk shipping company with a network of many consignors in the Indian Ocean region, STX said.

- OCBC Bank's (OCBC.SI) Malaysian offshoot yesterday introduced a 30-year tenure Islamic home-financing scheme aimed at making home-ownership easier for those who have just entered the workforce.