23/04/2014 Asia Business Report

business Secretary, Vince Cable, has written to the country's100 biggest

companies, calling on them to hold back on executive pay levels.

Describing wages at banks as ridiculous he said the public had

lost trust in the principle that remuneration was linked to

performance. Now on BBC News, all the latest business news live from

Singapore. The politics of trade, will the US President succeed in

breaking a deadlock with Japan over agricultural tariffs? Asia's

contribution of house sales in the region will boost earnings prospects

for Boeing. Thanks for watching Asia Business Report. President Obama

kicks off his Asian tour in Japan where he is due to spend two days in

Tokyo, although Japan they want to discuss regional security and

China's rising hazards in the region. `` Japan may want. Obama is

keen to talk about trade, and specifically, the transpacific

partnership, the potential free trade agreement. Japan and the US

have been in a deadlock over how much possession of the Asian economy

should allow to be part of the group. Sticking points revolve

around removing tariffs on agriculture products, that is rice,

beef and dairy products. Earlier, I spoke to a chief economist in Tokyo.

I asked him whether the two sides will be able to work out their

differences during a visit. There are still details to nail down, but

I don't think Barack Obama and Shinzo Abe will come out to the

press conference and say that it is done. They will say that there are

details. There are ongoing negotiations. It will take more

time, but I am fairly confident that will come to an agreement before the

end of the year. With the elimination of these tariffs, how

much will this improve Japan's economic growth? Sure. So in a very

conservative government estimate, they came out with the number of

0.7% of GDP. That might sound small. But it is almost three trillion yen.

When you include nontariff measures such as deregulation in the service

sector, that number will double. This TPP model is loosely based on

the growth of nations along the Pacific rim. Several members such as

Singapore and Vietnam are also involved in the TPP negotiations. Is

it running the risk of being insignificant? I spoke to the

group's secretary. Will it replace APEC? I do think so. And we have the

Latin Americans in the Pacific Alliance. We have to get those in

the same direction. China is hosting APEC. One thing they need to do is

work out how to bring them together. If this becomes a reality, how

others APEC how to adjust? So far, TPP is following guidelines set out

by APEC, just as most if not all of those agreements, first of all they

have to get agreement among ministers. Then they need to get it

all ratified. That can take a year. And they need to work out all the

details. This will not be a quick process. But we want to see trade

liberalisation going in one clear direction, making it easier for

investment, easier to move across borders, all of these things have

been pushed by APEC over the years. A lot of the practical stuff is

still being done by APEC. Reducing red tape, getting things across

borders more easily. Had On the earnings front, PFC parent, Yum!

Brands says the rise in sales in China in the first three months of

the year. As it recovers from an evening flew outbreak and a safety

scare last year, which led to a fall in demand. It is the biggest market

in the country, which also operates Pizza Hut. Net profit at China

Mobile has fallen by nearly 10% in the first quarter, when compared to

the previous year. That is the lowest quarterly profit in five

years. The company is struggling to compete with mobile apps offering

messaging services on the mainland such as Tencent's popular

application, WeChat. China Mobile is the biggest carrier in the world by

subscribers. The securities market regulator in Hong Kong has issued a

fine to the Royal Bank of Scotland. A fine of $7.5 million has been

issued to Royal Bank of Scotland, and the institution was reprimanded

for failing to detect a series of unauthorised transactions by one of

its traders. The fine follows the conviction of a former trader for

fraud in 2013. She was sentenced to 15 months in prison after being

caught falsifying records of emerging market trades. One US

company that relies heavily on Asia is Boeing. China has placed an order

for Boeing 737 aircraft. It is worth over $4 billion. Boeing is about to

unveil its earnings from the March, the January to March quarter.

Earlier this year, it warned investors that profits could fall

short of expectations. Our correspondent reports. This is the

aircraft that has been Boeing's best`selling plane ever. The 737 has

dominated the plane market along with its rival, Airbus. The plane

could play an even bigger role in shaping its future and this is why.

With a surge in demand for air travel and fast`growing economies,

Asia has emerged as the main engine of growth for plane makers. However,

carriers in the region have been keen to buy fuel`efficient, aircraft

suited to meet regional travel demand. And this is where Boeing 737

has come into play. On Tuesday, China's Shandong airlines based in

order worth 6.4 billion dollars. Boeing also won a similar size order

from India for the aircraft earlier this year. However, the planemaker

has also had to face tough times. Boeing's stronghold on the Japanese

market where it enjoys a monopoly for decades was broken by rival

Airbus late last year. That was a tribute to impart to the problems

with its 787 Dreamliner planes of which Japanese carriers are the

biggest operators. So while it has been making a smooth landing in some

markets, it has faced turbulent times in others. How well it can

manouevre the latter will play a key role in shaping its fortunes in the

region. Roughly 40 or 50% of the monthly deliveries coming into the

region, especially the narrow what it aircraft, increasingly, the

Boeing 787. But hasn't its image been affected by its problems with

the 787s? Those issues have largely been resolved. We haven't had any

incidents in quite some time. So the market feels comfortable. The main

issue now is that they are going into a new variant this year. They

are also looking to develop another new variant. That can lead to issues

in the production process. As you speed up production to meet demand

and deliveries you have to make. With Asian travel on the rise, one

of Singapore 's best`known company is focusing on buying up hotels to

cater to them. The Royal Group Holdings is one by one of Singapore

's wealthiest families with over $1 billion and on the rich list, this

man is the third generation of the family to run the country. `` run

the firm in the country. Our group, we do not do much residential, we

are predominately commercial, hospitality and retail. That is the

legacy of the company. That market has been untouched and is still

gunned lazing. `` guns blazing. Is correlated to its rivals and not to

government measures. The government measures are helping Singapore

fervour which is causing a further escalation in the hospitality war.

Your family owns several hotels in the region, plans to develop more.

Why the focus on hotels and tourism? The reason, I like the hotel sector

right now is because of the growth of tourism is in Singapore. We have

seen a growth in the past five years of close to 100%. It is not normal

to see such growth in a particular sector. We have seen room rates grow

a crazy percentage in the past few years. The luxury and upscale market

was untouched. Going forward, that is why I look at that as a very

lucrative industry. Looking at the markets, most Asian stocks are in

positive territory. Most are reporting strong first quarter

earnings. And give for investing your time with us. I am Rico Hizon.

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