24/04/2014 Asia Business Report


24/04/2014

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neither of them had an outright majority. Now on BBC News, all the

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latest business news live from Singapore. One year on, we look at

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what has changed from the worst industrial disaster to hit

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Bangladesh. Global trade ambitions, the US President is in Japan to push

:00:20.:00:28.

for progress. Thanks for watching Asia Business Report. We start off

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in Bangladesh. The south Asian nation witnessed its worst ever

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industrial disaster one year ago, when a clothing factory collapsed,

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killing more than 1,100 people. It severely dented the image of the

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country's garment industry. They exported more than $22 billion worth

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of clothes last year. Our correspondent reported on the

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disaster, and now looks at what has changed. This woman was lucky enough

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to survive the disaster. She was among hundreds of women working

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inside the complex when it came crashing down last year. Trapped

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under the rubble, she was rescued two days after the disaster. Her

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mangled legs had to be amputated. TRANSLATION: I am borrowing money to

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survive. My husband is taking care of me and he has no time to go to

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work. Who will look after me and do the housework? Even one year later,

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I am still waiting for my full compensation. That is because

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western brands and retailers have so far contributed only $15 million to

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a $40 million fund to compensate victims and their families. Money

:01:52.:01:54.

has only just started trickling down, and it is likely to take

:01:55.:02:07.

months to reach the victims. Rebecca and thousands of others were saved

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from the rubble. It was a Bangladesh's worst ever industrial

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disaster. More than 1,100 people were killed. The disaster was a

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major wake`up call for the clothing sector. A series of measures have

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been taken in the last year. The minimum monthly wage for workers has

:02:23.:02:25.

been increased from $38 per month to $68. Western retailers have also set

:02:26.:02:33.

up a fund to help improve safety standards in the clothing industry

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in Bangladesh. Around 200 new safety inspectors will be appointed to try

:02:40.:02:42.

and prevent another major collapse or fire in the factories. For others

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who escaped, they are back at work in new jobs. Safer factories, but

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life has not been easy. TRANSLATION: I do not want to work anymore. I get

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flashbacks about those horrible days. I cannot sleep properly. As I

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have nightmares, but I don't have any option as we are poor. My father

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and brother are no more. We have to work to pay our bills. Learning the

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lessons from the disaster is crucial to the economy. The clothing sector

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represent nearly 80% of exports, but while Western retailers say they

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want safety to improve, they have not been shy to warn they will go

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elsewhere if costs rise too high. It was a busy session in the US

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overnight, with a lot of companies reporting their quarterly earnings.

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Some of the highlights. Facebook made a profit of $642 million in the

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first quarter of the year. It is nearly three times more than the

:03:58.:04:02.

profit it made over the same period in 2013. The company said the surge

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in mobile advertising helped push its revenues higher by 70%. Facebook

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had 1.8 million users in the first quarter, and more than 1 billion

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access the site through a mobile device such as a smartphone or a

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tablet. Apple made $10 billion in the first three months. That is a 7%

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jump. The quarterly earnings announcement came with a hint from

:04:28.:04:36.

Tim Cook that new products are on the way. They sold 43 million iPods

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worldwide this year. US aircraft manufacturer Boeing has raised its

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profit outlook after strong demand. Its main rival Airbus had 141. Their

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revenues amounted to $20 billion. An 8% hike. Net profit fell by 12%.

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That was due to changes in its retirement plan. New Zealand's

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central bank raised its cost of borrowing by a quarter of a percent.

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The bank says there will be more rate hikes to come to keep on top of

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inflation pressures as economic growth remains robust. New Zealand

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is the only central bank in the developed economy to have raised

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interest rates this year. Barack Obama spent his first night in Japan

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on a tour of Asia. Today he will be having talks with Shinzo Abe, and

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high up on their agenda will be the potential free trade deal. US and

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Japan hold the key to the success of negotiations, but even if a deal is

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done between the two countries or the 12 countries involved, could

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Obama get the approval from Congress to sign it? Our correspondent

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reports from New York. This is the UPS sorting facility in Kentucky.

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Thousands of packages make their way through here every day. If the US

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agrees on a free trade deal with 12 other countries, this place could

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get a whole lot busier. We would see a tremendous growth from a trade

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agreement. We have seen that in past trade agreements. Some previous

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agreements that were negotiated, like the US`Singapore agreement and

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the US`Chile free trade agreement. We saw a 20% increase in volume.

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Past agreements have taken manufacturing jobs from the US,

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which is why not all businesses are getting behind the massive trade

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partnership that would link nearly 60% of global GDP. Businesses like

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Ford, maker of the iconic Mustang. It could hurt our business. It could

:06:57.:07:01.

cause imbalance and take jobs away from American workers, and use that

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for countries that are trying to manipulate their currency and always

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export their unemployment problems to other parts of the world, and we

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do not think that is right. US manufacturers often complain that

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countries engaging in currency manipulation by keeping it

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artificially low have had a devastating impact on America's

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manufacturing sector. In last year's State of the Union address,

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President Obama made specific mention of the TPP. To boost

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American exports, support jobs, and level the playing field in the

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growing markets of Asia, we intend to complete negotiations on the

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transpacific partnership, and tonight, I am announcing we will

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launch talks on a competency of transatlantic trade and investment

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partnership with the EU. Because trade that is fair and free across

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the Atlantic supports millions of good`paying American jobs. But this

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year, there was no reference to the trade deal at all. Getting

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fast`track authority to get past regulars would be crucial in

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extracting concessions from Japan and other countries. Getting that

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through this divided Congress is unlikely, a sign that the

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President's biggest obstacle could be right here at home. Two giants of

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the pharmaceutical company announced a complicated deal which will see

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them create a new consumer healthcare business. GSK will buy

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the vaccine business of Novartis. And a Swiss giant will take over

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GSK's cancer drugs unit. It is the latest in a slew of deals pointed to

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a consolidation for the drugs industry. Our correspondent explains

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why these deals are taking place. One reason it is scientific.

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Rational drug design is causing more failures than successes, and

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rational drug design is why you have Big Pharma companies. Second is

:09:14.:09:15.

government, government is restricting access to doctors. You

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need much different salesforce models. The third is capital

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markets. They are punishing companies when they get late stage

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failures and so they are looking for different ways to spread the risk.

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Fewer companies with fewer product makes more sense. What does this

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mean for Asia's pharmaceutical sector? For Asia, you look at it two

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ways. Inbound and outbound. For outbound, Asian companies need to

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start increasing their global footprint because this is a

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situation with fewer competitors and more consolidation. Companies, if

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they do it right, it will increase their global footprint. For inbound,

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companies could increase their Asia footprint and there is a lot

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involved in that they need to deal with. Complexity, regulatory and

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quality big three of them. Let's have a quick look at the markets.

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Stocks are feeling the pressure after Wall Street equities it

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overnight. Thank you for investing your time with us. `` be ``

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