10/01/2014 Asia Business Report


10/01/2014

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lawful. Now on BBC News, all the latest

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business news live from Singapore. Japan's Prime Minister looks set to

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pledge billions of dollars of aid during his visit to Africa.

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And cooking with gas, why feeding a family in India is becoming a tough

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task. We start today with the Japanese

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Prime Minister, who is visiting the African state of Ivory Coast as part

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of a trip to the continent. His trip will be the first by a Japanese

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Premier and eight years and is -- in eight years and is aimed at boosting

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his international profile. He is set to visit Mozambique and Ethiopia.

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You will be accompanied by a delegation of business executives

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from up to 29 companies. Japan is a major donor to Africa and has

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pledged an estimated $14 billion in aid over the next five years. It is

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expected to spend billions more in private investment. I asked what

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exactly the prime minister is doing in Africa.

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This is a sign that he would like Japan to take Africa much more

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seriously and would like Japanese companies to look harder at Africa

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for investment opportunities, and is a new market. In the past, Japan has

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looked at Africa as a place where perhaps they were sold a lot of

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second-hand Japanese cars and also gave a lot of aid, but it has not

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been seen as a market for Japanese products. As we have seen with China

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in the last few years, Africa is growing very fast. Many African

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economies are growing extremely fast at the moment, and people are

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starting to see Africa in a very different way. That is what the

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Prime Minister is trying to push. Do not look at Africa as a place where

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we just give money to help, but look at it as an opportunity.

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Do you think part of the reason for the trip is to try to counter

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China's growing influence? How successful dip in Japan would be at

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that? Japan has been in Africa a lot than

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China will stop if you go to African countries, you will see the

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ubiquitous Toyota hi Lux everywhere you go. African countries are very

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familiar with Japanese products, but it is China that has been making

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the" , particularly -- making the big inroads, particularly with

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consumer products. I do not think there will be competing

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head-to-head. But other part of this, with the rival whether China,

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what a minister has been doing since he came into power is trying to get

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Japanese companies to look elsewhere, not just investing in

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China. China -- Japan is very dependent on China as its biggest

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export market, but he would like Japanese countries to look

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elsewhere. Southeast Asia, India, Africa South America, to try to

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counterbalance the dependence on the Chinese market.

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To India, where one of the nation 's biggest expenses is subsidising fuel

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for its people. In an attempt to offset the week at -- recent hike in

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fuel prices, they are considering raising the quantity of gas they

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provide every fantasy. -- family. But it is an election year, are they

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trying to appease citizens, and can make for the exercise?

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-- can they afford. On course for delivery. This woman

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receiving her second gas cylinder in less than one month. Feeding a

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family of eight people has been a struggle for her over the last

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couple of years. Her son, the sole breadwinner, does not earn enough to

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support a huge family. A recent hike in cooking gas prices has made like

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even more difficult. TRANSLATION: How can anyone afford such an

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expensive cooking gas cylinder? I prepare the evening meal in the

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morning to avoid using extra cooking gas.

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The recent hike in nonsubsidised cooking gas prices has impacted many

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families across the country. Over 23 million households still use cooking

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gas cylinders. Distributors say that there is growing public anger

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against price hikes. When there is a price increase, the customer issues

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that resentment at the distributor level, because they cannot contact

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the oil industry. As the first contact person, we have to face the

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rat of the customer. -- rat of the customer. The

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government provides a subsidy for nine cooking gas cylinders consumed

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by every household annually. With an election in the offing, it wants to

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do more. That could come at a high price. The government loses nearly

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$12 on every subsidised cooking gas cylinder that is sold in the market

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like these. Despite that, this -- there is tremendous political

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pressure to increase the subsidy for cooking gas. That could be a tough

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task, considering that the overall finances of the government are not

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in good shape. India's oil subsidy bill is already

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running higher than the government had accounted for in this financial

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year. This means any move to increase the cooking gas subsidy

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would further squeeze the government exchequer. With the recent local

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state elections, the ruling Congress party suffered a heavy defeat. With

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elections around the corner, the current leadership is desperate to

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woo voters. But with the economy not in good health, the government will

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find out that it's -- that it simply does not have the money to provide

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help to those suffering the heart cost of living.

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China has released its latest trade numbers for December and the

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official barter -- dataset exports rose from last, while imports were

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up by over 8%. It leaves the country with a surplus of just over 23.5

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billion dollars for the month. It leaves the nation with a trade

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surplus of close to $260 billion for diverting.

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Several car brands have posted record sales. Luxury car to mount

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has been growing in emerging markets such as China and India as income

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levels rise. Carmakers have also benefited from a recovery in the US,

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one of the biggest markets for luxury cars.

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Asia's satellite operators are hailing the potential of a new

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technology developed by an American firm, which slashes the cost of

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lodgers. The rocket Company, space X, this week sent at second

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satellite into orbit, offering launches that undercut established

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players. They empty shakeup the rocket business, which will help

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Asian operators expand their reach. An important mission for satellite

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technology in developing countries. Developed by the American firm space

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X, it is the second Falcon nine rocket sent into orbit, this time

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for the Asian operator. This blastoff marks a big step in

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improving the reliability of new technology that can drastically

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reduce the cost of lodgers. Cutting the launch cost is enormous, because

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the actual launch can cost as much as the satellite itself, $100

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million or more. If you can take $50 million out of the launch cost, that

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is money you do not need to recover from customers who are paying for

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communications services. One of the world 's leading satellite

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operators, SES, became the first to bet on the technology last month.

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That is when the SES eight was launched into geostationary orbit,

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36,000 kilometres above the equator, extending the firms 's reach across

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South Asia and Indochina. The operators say demand for satellites

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is exploding and it is partly being driven up by the increasing number

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of people wanting high-definition television services, said to be

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growing at a rate of 6% each year. This control room, operated in

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Singapore, transmits the signals of more than 100 channels across Asia,

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beaming them up to satellite across the region. Another benefit is

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improved coverage for mobile phone and Internet services. SES says the

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opportunities for emerging markets like India, Vietnam and Indonesia

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are astronomical. What we have been able to do with space X is a board

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the launch of the satellite programme, which on a conventional

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rocket would not have been possible. I think this is the proof

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of the pudding, which ensures that many smaller satellite programmes,

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that are appropriate to the demands of smaller developing nations, will

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now become viable. It seems the sky is the limit. Space X hopes to

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eventually recover the first stage of the rocket, so it can bring it

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back to her for a controlled landing. If they can be reused, that

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could reduce the launch costs even further.

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A very quick look at the markets. Investors and traders are reacting

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very little to the mixed bag of Chinese data that we saw earlier.

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Markets are down over caution of the jobs report in the US.

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The top stories this hour: relations between the US and India have

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worsened - the diplomat arrested and strip-searched in New York has been

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charged with fraud and asked to leave the country.

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A Pakistani police chief, one of the country's most prominent opponents

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of the Taliban, has been killed by the Taliban in what they say is a

:10:56.:11:01.

revenge attack. Insurance companies are starting to

:11:02.:11:05.

count the cost of the recent storms, as they prepare to

:11:06.:11:06.

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