14/04/2014 Asia Business Report

earlier, the Ukrainian Ambassador `` you , saying that Russia is not

behind the troubles that are taking place.

Asian markets are falling, after big losses in New York. We look ahead to

economic data which could send stocks tumbling again this week. And

L'Oreal changes strategy in China. We find out how struggling beauty

brands can change their fortunes. Hello and welcome to this Monday

edition of Asia Business Report. We start with a look at the markets.

Asian shares have started the week lower. They are taking their cues

from Wall Street. They saw a sell off in technology shares. We sought

them continuing to extend losses from last week. At the moment it is

currently just fairly flat. Last week, it saw its biggest weekly fall

since the March 2011 tsunami. And nuclear disaster. In the US, the

NASDAQ closed lower. That could influence investors. That includes

Chinese growth data from the first quarter of the year. That is due out

on Wednesday. There is more political concern being brought up

over the Ukraine crisis as well. For more, let's ring in our regular

market analyst. Peter, what is prompting this sell off. And will it

be sustained? The China market will be the key trigger. It is expecting

a rate of growth at 7.4%. That is down from 7.7%. It is an important

time, because the riskier parts of the US market such as biotechnology,

IT, US reporting season is ramping up. Mid week, the market is timid.

In Asia, not much is moving. Mid week, we expect volatility to start

ramping up. You say they are being timid. To some extent they are, it

is certainly being flat, but we are seeing this emergency meeting taking

place in the United Nations Security Council. Will political uncertainty

play a role? It's a factor. It's not the most important factor. It's

probably not the highest in the priority list. But it is also

overhanging. And the problem with geopolitical event is that when

something does happen, it is usually unexpected. It is counter to

consensus. And that is where the market starts to panic. In terms of

the Ukraine, we do not think it will be quite significant on markets

unless something completely drastic emerges. You also mentioned the

Chinese GDP data. We are watching that keenly for the first quarter.

It is due out on Wednesday, what do you anticipate, and what impact will

it have? Chinese data has been pointing lower, it has been lacking

impetus. That is why it could set such a low hurdle relative to where

the growth rate has been in the past. We think that the Chinese

growth rate could come in at 7.5. That is slightly

better`than`expected. It is still below the last quarter. Anything

above 7.5 in annualised rate, will be a benefit to markets. Hong Kong

has been dragged down recently by Chinese data. 7.5 and up words would

be a positive. We will leave it there. China's biggest oil company

has been blamed for water contamination affecting 2.4 million

people in the capital of the north`western province. The leak has

been blamed on a pipeline owned by a subsidiary of China National

petroleum Corporation. Authorities have warned that painted tapwater

contained up to 200 micrograms per litre of the carcinogenic benzene.

That is 20 times the national safety limit. A stake in a copper mine has

been sold to a Chinese consortium from Peru. It is one of the biggest

acquisitions in years. It is underscoring the mainland's

continued demand for Chinese commodities. It is one of the

largest mines under construction. It is expected to churn out 450,000

tonnes of copper when production begins next year. There will be

another public share offering to raise $2 million in capital.

Japan's largest display maker aims to launch the sale after a

restructure aimed at convincing potential investors. The strategy

will focus on cutting reduction cost is, as Sharp expands into the market

for lower`priced smartphones. Their shares are the sharply lower today.

There is an overhaul of L'Oreal. They pulled their gunny eight level

off the shelves `` Garnier label off the shelves. I asked our

correspondent why they seem to be struggling. Chinese women are trying

to express more creativity and individualism. They do not want to

buy the same brands as everyone else. You are starting to see the

big luxury houses, cosmetic companies, they have two offer many

different sub brands. You are no longer going to see everybody

wanting to buy L'Oreal. So the smarter brands will have to do

something like what Louis Vuitton are doing, where they have ten

different brands to offer consumers. Politically, Sri Lanka is under fire

from the international community over its human rights record. One of

the government's responses is it is fostering economic development in

the north, formerly a war zone. Our correspondent is looking at how a

shopping centre is transforming the city. Much of the city remains in

ruins. It is the result of years of neglect and dilapidation as well as

bombardments when the city was fought over by the government and

Tamil Tigers. Until recently, people would say that visiting this place

was like stepping back in time. But parts of the city are now changing.

Irrevocably. Here in the town centre, its first ever traffic light

has been brought into operation. Cargills a popular chain has

arrived. Once you have stocked up on food, pop on Sri Lanka's only

escalator. The shopping mall is still small, but set to expand.

There is also a food court. Cargill And the triple screen cinema. Say

they have created three jobs. Benefits Street beyond the town's

boundaries. We are procuring approximately `` producing

approximately eight or ten tons per day. Beyond retail, the town has a

building boom. This is one of many new flats. Residents have flocked to

buy them. Much of northern Sri Lanka is still suffering from the

devastating consequences of civil war. But amid the greenery, economic

change is afoot. Many see that is offering the seeds of hope for the

wider region. Where are the best cities in the world to live and

work? Five of the top ten emerging cities with the greatest potential

now sit in South East Asia. In the next two decades, could places like

Jakarta and Manila be competing with New York and Paris? Our

correspondent explains for us the highlights of the company's

research. For Asia at the interesting thing is you have four

cities in the top ten. Tokyo, Hong Kong, which have always been there,

and then Beijing breaking into the top ten, for the first time ever,

and Singapore returning to the top ten after a two year absence. In

addition, of the top ten cities and emerging cities, there are five from

Asia. So Jakarta is at the top of the list of the countries, of the

city is likely to establish `` city is likely to challenge the

established leaders. How does all this differ from the others out

there? We had the world's costliest city, Singapore, that caused

consternation here. So what is the purpose of a list like this? We

don't look at single factors such as cost or single metric such as

economics or business activities. We believe the list we have is

well`balanced. We look at business activities, human capital,

political, information exchange, as well as cultural experience. These

are the things which make the city attractive for businesses and

talent. This is how cities will compete with each other. How

attractive we are for businesses to come to. In a way you are saying a

lot of lists like this, by your organisation and others, they help

drive how governments will see their growth. That's right. The list helps

them to think about what other factors that are important to make

their cities attractive. It helps to drive policy decisions going

forward. Our thesis is that going forward, is Mrs and talents will

migrate to cities, not necessarily to countries as a whole. So we are

looking at liveable cities. A quick look at the markets. We will take a

look at them again. The Nikkei is slightly higher after opening in

negative territory. Across the board, with the flat markets in

Korea and Australia. Political uncertainty with that emergency

meeting taking place in the UN Security Council. We also watch for

some major GDP data later this week. They give for watching as a business

report. You're watching BBC News. I'm Adnan Nawaz. Our top stories

this hour. The UN Security Council is discussing the crisis in Ukraine.

The ambassador says Ukraine must stop waging war on its own