PRESS DIGEST - Malaysia - Dec 31

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

THE STAR

- The opposition's promises to reduce oil prices if it were to form a government will only bankrupt the country, Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak said.

- PLUS Expressway Bhd (PLUE.KL) is set to open its maiden highway project in Mumbai, India in the first quarter of 2008, Chief Financial Officer Annuar Marzuki Abdul Aziz said.

NEW STRAITS TIMES

- Confrontational methods will not resolve sensitive issues, Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak said.

BUSINESS TIMES

- Helicopter service provider Malaysian Helicopter Services Sdn Bhd is all set to expand its operations abroad by next year, targeting Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East as well as Africa, Chief Operating Officer Rahmat Hussain said.

- Ranhill Bhd (RANH.KL), Malaysia's largest engineering group, could be the next target for a privatisation plan by president and chief executive Hamdan Mohamad, company sources said.

THE EDGE FINANCIAL DAILY

- Khazanah Nasional Bhd sees 2008 as the year in which some government-linked companies (GLCs) will further expand their presence regionally, while the rest would evolve their businesses beyond basic survival, its Managing Director Azman Mokhtar said.

THE MALAYSIAN RESERVE

- Geneva-based Faisal Private Bank (Switzerland) SA, the only Swiss Islamic private bank, will open its first overseas representative office in Malaysia by the first quarter of 2008, its Chief Executive, Marco Rochat said.

- Delisted Metroplex Bhd's chieftain Lim Siew Kim is planning to make a corporate comeback by calling her trusted former senior staff to return and help her rebuild her businesses in Malaysia and overseas, a source said.

THE SUN

- Whatever the problem may be between UMNO Secretary-General and Home Minister Radzi Sheikh Ahmad and Perlis Chief Minister Shahidan Kassim, it should be resolved behind closed doors and not dragged into the open, several UMNO leaders said.