STEPS TO ENSURE M'SIA WEATHERS ECONOMIC MALAISE

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 19 (Bernama) -- Malaysia's economic position is still
tenable and every effort is being taken to ensure the country will weather the
worst of the adverse impact of the global economic malaise.

In giving this guarantee, Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak said Monday
Malaysia's fundamentals were strong, with healthy trade surpluses and
international reserves of more than RM316.8 billion. (US1=RM3.58)

"This would hold us in good stead for the rest of the year," he said.

"We are fully confident that Malaysia would be able to ride out the worst of
this global economic turmoil," he said at the launch of the Chana Era cars.

Najib said Malaysia was fully cognisant of the seriousness of the meltdown
in the global economic and financial systems and all too aware that under
the current circumstances, not only would new foreign direct investments (FDIs)
become scarce, but existing investors too at times were prone to becoming
jittery and restless.

"We realise that we must continuously refine our attractiveness as an
investment destination.

"Among others, we must ensure that we safeguard our attributes and
characteristics that investors find most appealing, while we review and remedy
the areas that have drawn criticism and complaints," said Najib, who is also
Finance Minister.

Najib noted that besides protecting Malaysia's political stability and
enhancing competitiveness, efficiency must be increased, especially in the
approval and regulatory processes," he said.

"The government is committed to making the improvements and adjustments
necessary to sustain a dynamic and resilient economy, and we will continuously
engage all our partners in our efforts to create an ideal business environment
for their ventures to grow and prosper," he added.

At a media conference later, Changan Berjaya Auto chief executive officer
Datuk Tony Khor said the group aims to widen their export market to South Africa
by year-end.

On Monday, the auto firm signed memorandum of agreements with dealers from
Thailand, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Indonesia and Brunei.

Its executive director Francis Lee said Changan Berjaya expects to export
about 3,000 cars to these five countries this year.

On the local front, he said, Changan Berjaya Auto aims to sell about 5,000
cars this year and targets to increase sales to 10,000 units next year to
achieve economies of scale before setting up the proposed manufacturing plan.
-- BERNAMA