12/03/2014 Asia Business Report


12/03/2014

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past 12 years. Now on BBC News all the latest

:00:00.:00:15.

business news live from Singapore. As China moves to open up its

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financial sector, it is asking to big internet firms to help it set up

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private banks. -- two. And, cool jobs here in Asia, our new series

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takes to disguise with the pilot of a hot air business in Myanmar.

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Welcome to the programme. Now, two of China's biggest internet

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companies have been picked up by the government to help set up private

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banks. Alibaba and Tencent have been chosen for a project to set up five

:00:50.:00:53.

banks owned completely by private companies. It is part of a move to

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open up China's financial sector. Earlier, I spoke to our

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correspondent in Hong Kong and asked about the significance of the move.

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It is extremely significant. The trial programme has been announced

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very quickly. The idea was floated last year, but no one had any idea

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they would announce it during the National People's Congress. What is

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less surprising is that it involves two of China's Digest internet

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companies. In fact, Alibaba is already playing in this space. They

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have announced they will be launching a credit card with a

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Chinese tank. -- bank. They have also started offering an online fund

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management programme, and, according to news reports, tens of billions of

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US dollars have already been invested. Alibaba sent me a

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statement saying they are in the process of working out the details

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of the kind of private tank they would like to set up. They don't

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have much more to Sebi on that. But they confirmed they are working with

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an auto parts company, also based in eastern China. Are their concerns

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about how these banks will be regulated? We know there is a big

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situation about bad debt in China. That is right. I get the sense that

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bad debt is less of a focus during this trial programme. The regulator

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wants to achieve a more friendly banking process for the little guy,

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meaning individual depositors and a small to medium-size company who

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want access to credit. Right now, the banking sector is dominated by

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the big four state owned banks. There are private players but at the

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moment interest rates for people with deposits are extremely low and

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for many small companies who wish to expand it is difficult for them to

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get credit. According to a regulator who briefed journalists in Beijing,

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he said that Alibaba's proposal focuses on the smaller companies. In

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other news making headlines, Italy's biggest bank has reported a

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record annual loss of $19 billion and says the plan to cut 8500 jobs

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or 6% of its workforce. The biggest bank by assets put aside more than

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$18 billion to cover losses from bad loans in 2013 and is trying to state

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stock of its financial position before EU regulators conduct a

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health check in the coming months of the industry. For other news and

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analysis, you can log onto our BBC website. Over in Thailand, a state

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of emergency may be lifted from the capital of Bangkok. According to

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reports, top government officials said improved security could create

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a high chance for the urgency to be removed. Protesters have been trying

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to unseat the Prime Minister for several months and the conflict has

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caused consumer confidence to drop to a 12 year low. Tourism, a key

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industry, has also suffered and many related his nurses are feeling the

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pinch. Thailand's central bank meets later and are expected to reduce

:04:23.:04:27.

interest rates to boost growth. I spoke to a senior economist, asking

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if lower in interest rates would address the country's problems. If

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you are talking about interest rates being lowered by 25%, consumer

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confidence is low so the credit channel might filter through,

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consumers might not want loans. One of the things the central bank will

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do is bolster confidence. They want to send the right signal, given that

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the impasse is in place, he can't get mega infrastructure rolling, and

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that is worth 17% of GDP. If you look at that over ten years, that is

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one percentage point of growth that will be subtracted. What else are we

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expected to hear from the central bank's what is their outlook for

:05:10.:05:23.

growth this year? We lowered our growth forecast in the midst of the

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political turmoil and the infrastructure plan, so we are

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looking at 2.8% growth. The last time the central bank was in the

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ballpark of about 4%. They might slow it to about 3%. What does it

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mean for Thai assets? It has not been that hard hit. If you look at

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it from 2013 Alan Knill now it has dropped less than 6%. The rupee has

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fared much worse. We think the underlying confidence remains, but

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they are waiting for the political storm to blow over. But we would

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rather be cautious about these assets and we are looking at the

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depreciation this year. You are saying the political storm blowing

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over... Do you think the directionless nurse that we are

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seeing in the markets, this caution, is due to this political

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impasse's until that is lifted, nothing more can happen? That seems

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to be the situation unfortunately. We are waiting for businesses to

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come and invest. But none of this is a starter it until you have a proper

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and stable government imposition. Ask any child what they want to be

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when they grow up, and what do they answer? Usually things like

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astronaut, football star, actress, and even teachers. So, what are the

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coolest jobs in Asia? As part of our new series, we need the pilot of a

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hot air balloon who flies over Myanmar's ancient temple city.

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If you have a burning desire to fly balloons, you better be an early

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riser. Today starts with a test of the wind at a dark 4:30am. I have

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set the alarm and come to meet men whose professional life involves a

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lot of hot air. How long does it take to become a hot air balloon

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pilot if someone wants to train? For the private licence, usually within

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a year. If you want to be professional, usually pilots, before

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they get into the highest group, is easily 3-4 years. The pilots are all

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European and they fly four baskets of tourist, each paying at least

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$300 for 45 minutes, looking down on the ancient temples of Baghdad. The

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view is amazing. Do you sometimes look at yourself and think wow. --

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Bagan. I have to pinch myself. Every flight is different. It is a bit of

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a challenge. You don't know where you will end up. It is one of the

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last real adventures. You know where you are taking off from, but you

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don't know where you will end up. That is quite fun. But everything,

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when you do it a lot, has the potential to get boring. You have

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been doing this for six years, are you getting bored of these temples

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every morning? Not really. It is an amazing place around here. If you

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are up in a balloon, you see the sunrise and the temples, it doesn't

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get much better. What are your friends say, the friendly gas jobs?

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They do like my office. -- desk jobs. When the rainy season starts

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most of the pilots had back to Europe for the summer season. What

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is the worst thing about this job, they must be something that doesn't

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make it quite so attractive. Obviously, it is a stunning place to

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be, but it has its downsides as well because it is remote. The logistics

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of getting family and children here can be complicated. My family were

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here for three months, but I wish it could have been longer. Still, this

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is an amazing place to fly. It is hard to complain. During Myanmar's

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dark days, only one company flew here. But with reforms and more to

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rests, there is now competition. The skies over Bagan has never been so

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busy. -- have. Returning to Earth now, because the markets have seen a

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huge sell-off this Wednesday morning. You are seeing the Nikkei

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down. This is one week after China's onshore default. We saw

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disappointing dater in the second largest economy, fuelling concerns

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over Hong Kong and China markets. -- data. The yen is continuing strong

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against the US dollar, meaning export relying stocks are being sold

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in Japan. And in Australia, the market is down 45 points and mining

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stocks, including BHP, are being sold off due to falls in metal

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prices. There are worries about a cool the Chinese economy. That is it

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for this edition of Asia at business report. Thank you for watching. --

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Asia Business Report. An Mike Embley. The top stories this our: As

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the search for the missing Malaysian airliner enters a fifth day, there's

:10:55.:10:56.

confusion over reports it had strayed hundreds of miles off

:10:57.:10:58.

course. In

:10:59.:10:59.

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