31/01/2014 Asia Business Report

and high winds to come. Time for the Asia Business Report

from Singapore. Thailand gets ready for national

elections on Sunday despite protests and ongoing calls for the opposition

to stop it. This is the Asia Business Report. As

you have been hearing, elections in Thailand are scheduled to go ahead

on Sunday. That is despite a boycott by the opposition and thousands of

protesters calling for the polls to be stopped in addition to millions

of dollars in lost business, three months of demonstrations have also

impacted the government's work. Protesters closed ministries and

government agencies. I spoke with Tony Nash about businesses and

worries around elections. Businesses are worried about exports, the

supply chain being impeded. What we are seeing is the protests in

Bangkok. The areas outside Bangkok should not be disrupted outside of

some extreme event. But the protests are still isolated in the capital

and it has not really spread. That is why businessmen are still quite

hopeful that we could see a resolution. That is right. The

resolution we will likely see from a political scenario is the military

coming into force the parties to talk and come to some copper mines.

The election will go forward. -- compromise. A number of seats are

not being contested. The Parliament has to have 95% of seats to be

filled in order to start. Short of a military coup or judicial coup, this

will be a long, drawnout process. We will be speaking with Tony Nash

again on Monday after the election results.

Japan's consumer prices rose in December. The economy has been

plagued by 15 years of deflation and falling prices. But the price of

fresh goods increased by 1.2% in December. Up by 1% from many

expectations. The job market is improving, with unemployment falling

slightly in December. Shares in Australia's big department

store chain David Jones are rising as much as 4.5% in Sydney trade

after rejecting a $1.2 billion merger proposal from a rival group.

David Jones says it was considering a takeover, but the transaction

would have substantial regulatory risks.

Myanmar's government has officially signed licensing agreements with two

foreign companies to build and run new mobile phone and data networks.

The country's telecommunications infrastructure is poor and

investment is expected to run into the lives of dollars. Our

correspondent caught up with one of the companies that want the

contract. At the moment, Myanmar has just one

mobile phone operator. It is owned by the government. The service is

pretty dire. That could all be about to change. It may companies have

signed a licensing agreement with the government. Sochi that may

change, it has taken six months to get to

this agreement. Is that a sign of how difficult it is to do business?

Actually, it is a sign of how professional everybody is being. We

wanted to make sure that we knew the exact framework. We have been busy.

We have got a lot of people on the ground. More of -- than half of them

are from Myanmar. At the moment it is thought only 5 million Burmese

people have a mobile phone. That is obviously going to change rapidly.

For you, getting licence must be a licence to print money. It is a

historic occasion for us as a company. For the people of Myanmar,

it is an opportunity for them to have access to the latest service.

The government challenged us in the bidding process to come up with the

latest technology. We are building a network from scratch. There is a

huge demand. It is 60 million people in the country where very few people

have joint services. This is one of the world's last frontiers for

building telecommunications. We're thrilled to be part of it. You

mentioned building a 3G network. Some people might be asking, why

waste your time? 3G is a future network for Myanmar. We will be able

to upgrade that later. There are calling Myanmar one of the final

frontiers for the telecommunications industry, and 2014 could be the year

that everything changes. Two companies launching their networks.

The race is on to get the networks up and running.

Many countries across Asia are celebrating the Chinese New Year,

which starts today. The festival is a busy time for those in the

business. Handcrafted item to mind is on the wane. One family business

that has been going on for 80 years says the future is not so bright. It

is mid-morning. This man is leading a special order for a temple to give

thanks to the gods. They take hours to make and not much longer to be

reduced to a pal of ash. They are made of the ground at branches of

the cinnamon tree. 15 years ago they were handcrafted. Today the clay is

put into a mould, and paint comes from the use of a spray gun. It is

all part of trying to ensure that an 80 -year-old business survives.

Stephen and his brothers run the business. We love it. There is

something skill that you cannot find anywhere else. The brothers learned

the trade from their father, who came to Singapore in the 1930s. The

business supported a family of 12 in its heyday. We worked and lived

together. Everybody had to come in and help. You can see your parents

working. Even in school. Now the rules have changed. The clay is

mixed in a workshop far from the family home. And the more lucrative

giant sticks have been banned on environmental grounds. There are

cheap imports to compete with. The family has cut costs and diversify

to, but it is not enough. The family wants a more comfortable life. We

are not too interested. We do not have the skill to do it. If we

continue this, we do not have a guaranteed bright future. The family

business simply does not make enough for everybody to live on. I would

tell my children, do not do this, you're wasting your time. The family

still makes a living out of a product designed to be destroyed.

Their own business has enjoyed for much longer. We have so many

brothers. And they have so many children. It is a bit sad that they

will not be able to carry it on. After 80 years, the clock is ticking

on a dying trade. Make sure you take a look at our

revamp Asia News homepage, which has more news and features from the Asia

region. Let us take a look at the markets. Teams in the open markets

during the holidays have been short lived, despite US stocks gaining

overnight. The Tokyo market is now down 65 points. Below that support

level. Australia is also in positive territory earlier, but is now down

by 2.5%. -- three .5%. All Wall Street indexes have been pushed into

higher ground. Thank you for investing your time with us. Happy

New Year for all of you. Here are the headlines: A fresh

appeal hearing in Italy has reinstated the conviction of Amanda

Knox and Raffaele Sollecito for the murder of Meredith