21/04/2014 Asia Business Report

been declared bankrupt. Tony Caplin was made insolvent in 2012. Now on

BBC News, all the latest business news live from Singapore. Heading

west: Why an increasing number of Chinese companies are looking to the

US for their share sales. And too expensive: Vietnam says it cannot

afford the multimillion`dollar cost of hosting the Asian Games. We start

with the Chinese firm, Alibaba, who are due to file this week their

highly anticipated share sale to the US. Its online business processes

have more transactions than eBay. We look at why Chinese companies are

now looking to the west. It was just last week when China's answer to

Twitter, Weibo, made its debut in New York. And in its first week of

trading, the stock shot up 20%. `` first day. The success of Weibo has

investors even more excited about Alibaba. The Chinese e`commerce

giant has more sales and net income than both Amazon and eBay combined.

It is China's largest internet company, and operates in the world's

largest internet market. Alibaba accounts for 80% of all Chinese

online consumer shopping. But why are Chinese companies choosing to

list in New York instead of Hong Kong? In the case of Alibaba, much

of it has to do with ownership structure. American rules allow for

executives to retain much more control of their company. Alibaba's

successes have even lifted some US companies. Yahoo has benefited from

a 24% stake in Alibaba, and it has been boosting Yahoo's shares, which

have gone up by more than 40% this year. It is all the more reason why

many investors will be watching just how Alibaba does in the coming

months. In other business News, General Motors plans to invest $12

billion in China this year They made the announcement at the Auto China

show in Beijing, which opens to the public today. Many of the world's

leading carmakers are at the event, and companies like Peugeot and

Hyundai are expected to unveil new mini SUV models. In Japan, exports

have been growing. It is a heavy importer of oil and gas. Recent

weakness in the Japanese gas market has increased costs. They have a

deficit of $14 billion, which is a record 21 straight months of

deficits. For more on the state of the Japanese economy and other

business stories around the world, check our website. As many of you

may have heard, the decision by Vietnam to withdraw as the host of

the 2019 Asia games has again put the spotlight on the pressure put on

countries that bid for sporting events. They budgeted 150 million

dollars. The bill was forecast to be several times higher. This year's

games in Korea are expected to top $1 billion. Our correspondent

explained the reasons which led to Vietnam giving up its claim. When

you look at how much money they are going to end up spending on the

games, it will be a massive amount, which at this moment I think the

government of Vietnam can't justify to the people. You just said, Korea

will spend over $1 billion, but statements coming out of the last

games, where they spent almost $17 billion, which was spent on

infrastructure. I think at this stage Vietnam, which has one of the

worst debts in Asia, they can't justify this kind of expenditure.

You said $17 billion, that is a staggering amount. A lot of that

going into infrastructure. Doesn't the infrastructure go on to benefit

the country beyond the games? Yes, but not sporting facilities. It

tends to become a white elephant after the games are over. Of course,

if you are building roads and housing, all of that is a legacy

programme, but sporting facilities, unless you are really driven,

otherwise it will be sitting there for nothing. We know this is a

crucial year, with the football World Cup coming up in Brazil, also

a lot of complaints about whether they are up to scratch. Do you think

it is important for countries to host games like this? Does it add

prestige or do you think the run`ups are more of a problem? If you really

plan properly, and in the case of Brazil they really needed it. It is

a double`edged sword. If you don't do a great job all of the negativity

is amplified. With the help of social media at the moment, instead

of gaining positive publicity, it all becomes negative in the end.

This is something that countries or cities really need to pay attention

to, and we are seeing what is happening in Brazil. The rising

number of people out of work in India is one reason the economy is a

key issue. The picture is not the same across the country. In the east

of India, a strong manufacturing sector has brought much`needed jobs.

Is it an example for others to follow? This man is 24, and comes

from a village of 300. `` a village 300 kilometres from the city he now

calls home. His father is a farmer, but following in those footsteps

would have been an option, he wasn't keen on joining him at the farm.

TRANSLATION: For as long as I can remember, my father has been riding

a bicycle. Recently, I bought him a new motorcycle to make travelling

easy for him. This job pays me well, which has helped in improving our

quality of life. This factory belongs to Nissan. Like him, there

are thousands of young people in Tamil Naidu who have jobs in

factories like this. And there are more than half a dozen other

international car companies that have set up similar factories in the

vicinity, prompting many to dub Chennai as the Detroit of South

Asia. Cars manufactured here are sent to over 100 countries. Easy

access to a port and availability of qualified workers has made the state

an attractive destination. Most companies hire students from

technical training institutes like these. In Tamil Naidu it is fairly

easy for workers to find a job, that is not the case in most parts of the

country. India's unemployment rate has been rising, especially among

low`skilled workers, which make up the bulk of India's population. It

has also become a hot election issue, with the Congress Liberal

government taking a lot of flak. They have not expanded

manufacturing. While it might be true, is it fair? Experts say the

owners are attractive manufacturers, and it falls on individual states,

because it is them who get involved in the most critical decisions. Land

problems, labour laws, and also the infrastructure problems. But I feel

that I'm positive about it, because states have realised it now, that

manufacturing growth is important. That realisation has to become a

reality. Because with 12 million people entering the Indian workforce

every year, only huge growth in sectors like manufacturing will

offer some hope of work for its job hunters. Getting something for

nothing is so tempting that many people would rather download pirated

software than pay for it, and it is a big issue in this region. A new

study by Microsoft and the national University of Singapore has said

that Asia accounts for nearly half of the world's pirated software. I

asked just how big the problem is. Financial implications of breaches

based on pirated software are devastating for consumers and

software themselves. We now know that it is more prevalent here in

Asia, and the financial consequences of that may be much more

significant. So, for example, the study we recently released

identifies the fact that of the computers analysed running pirated

software, over 60% of them also running various kinds of spyware,

worms, viruses, the kinds of things that criminals are trying to use to

take people's money away, to steal their identity. Incidents of that

can be magnified for sure, and you can have high piracy rates. In Asia,

there are piracy rates at a north of 85%. As a result, the financial

losses from that will be very significant. Losses are greater in

Asia than anywhere else in the world. A very quick look at the

markets. They have opened marginally higher here this Monday. It is

incredibly quiet, as many markets are still shut for the Easter

weekend. The biggest weekly loss in a month for the yen. So despite

trade numbers which were not too good, Japanese stocks have been

helped. That ends this edition of Asia Business Report. Thank you for