28/04/2014 Asia Business Report

President Obama continues his push for a key trade pact despite

opposition in Malaysia. And, will they rebound? We look at how Asian

currencies welfare after a week of falls. `` will fare.

Welcome to Asia Business Report. Security and economic ties will

dominate president Obama's visit to the Philippines. It is his final

stop on a week`long trip to four Asian nations. People rallied in

Malaysia against the Trans`Pacific Partnership. It looks like an uphill

battle to get Malaysia to sign up, as the president said there were

issues to apply and out, and fears that it could lead to higher prices

for food and medicine. The concerns were shared by these protesters. We

reject and vehemently protest this, which will affect millions of

Malaysian people. Our economic stability, we should decide our

self, not the West. Big power countries will have influence over

small economies, so it is not fair. It is a very different story in the

Philippines, which is yet to join the TPP negotiations. What can we

expect from his next stop in the Philippines? That is a question I

discussed. There are several areas that the government announced as key

discussion points during the visit. One of them, political and security,

for obvious reasons, and the other perhaps less obvious one is the

issues of disaster relief, and humanitarian aid during natural

disasters. The second one that was announced was the expansion of trade

and investment. Inflows into the Philippines, we are the lowest

percentage of FDI inflows from the US. Do you think it is the

relationship the US has with China could affect investment? We have

done a risk assessment, and so far it has not changed our view that the

Philippines will continue to be an attractive investment destination.

To have been tensions with China, so surely some of the investment from

China has been impacted was yellow yes, we were affected, we did see

fewer arrivals. Japan has posted its biggest hike in

retail sales in 17 years. The government data for March said that

consumers went on a shopping spree before rising sales tax at the

beginning of April. Figures show they stocked up on electronics,

toiletries and clothes, to avoid paying higher prices in the first

tax hike since 1997. China's second`largest bank has reported a

10% increase in net profits. The China Construction Bank is the third

of the big four lenders to report results higher than expected.

Profits have been put down to higher income from interest and bank fees.

After nearly two weeks of protests, most of the workers who staged one

of China's biggest strikes are expected back on the job today. Or

than two thirds of them return to work at a factory, after the company

agreed to some of their main demands. The firm estimates the

strike cost around $7 million. Will Asia's major currencies rebound this

week after falls in many countries last week? Most of them slid between

half and 1%. The Indonesian rupiah led the pack, falling 1.3%. China's

you one fell almost half a percent. `` yuan. I think a bounce is likely.

We wouldn't be participating in that. We are concerned with global

markets, and equity. At the moment, we won't buy anything that is

increasing in volatility and has been performing poorly. They are

likely to bounce, there are short positions in these currencies that

can be rectified, but rather than can be rectified, but rather than

selling into those, in terms of the Indonesian rupiah, for example. I

don't see a long`term bounce or turn coming in terms of currency any time

soon. Lenovo is already the world's largest computer maker, but that is

not all it wants to be known for. It is betting its future on smart

phones, and is moving forward with its plan to buy IBM server business.

It plans to talk to investors in Singapore today, as it tries to

raise funds in Asia for future acquisitions. We explain why Lenovo

is targeting declining tech Rance. Variable to turn around these low

margin divisions and make them more profitable by shifting operations to

China, and then re` exporting to these developed markets where there

is always a recognised brand name. What about mobile phones? We know

they are waiting for approval to buy Motorola, it wants to push into

smart phones, but this is crowded territory. You will have to take on

the iPhone and the Samsung galaxy. That is true, but the thing about

the smart phone market is that it is very mature in western Europe and

North America, but there are developing markets where Lenovo can

offer a product with a similar functionality to a Samsung device.

How are they going to do that? Their strategy seems all about acquiring

other businesses, are they coming up with their own ideas? They have some

innovation, it would be wrong to say they had no innovation that goes on

at Lenovo. They have come out with some interesting designs in the

hybrid PC market, there is no reason why they can't do more of that sort

of thing in the tablet or mobile phone markets. With India in the

grips of one of the most important elections in decades, booksellers

are trying to cash in on people's hunger for information about the

nation's lenders and leading contenders, and leaders. There is a

growing market as literacy rates improve, but book markets are still

losing out to cheaper, pirated books.

The moment you enter a bookstore like this, there is no doubt in your

mind there is an election on. The whole country is gripped by

politics. More may has a higher literacy, more people can read and

write, and this is Connie to overdrive. In India, one man who has

been written a lot about is Narendra Modi, widely seen by many as a

front`runner to this election. Over 15 books on him have been published,

half of which have hit the shelves in the past couple of months. This

is the book in huge demand. It analyses the outgoing PM, Manmohan

Singh, and some allegations it had been made have created a stir in the

political world, which means public and gold. It was out of stock within

a couple of days of its release, which prompted more people to read

it. There are so many political books in the market, but is there

demand for them? This political election has a huge buildup. There

is lots more awareness, and people want information. They pick up looks

on the elections. You might have noticed that most of the books we

looked at many are published in Hindi and other dialects as well.

You will find them commonly in small shops, on the roadside, or among the

piles of books that are sold on the pavements. These are mostly pirated

and are sold at a much lower price, and this has been a long`term

headache for the publishing industry. Despite that, the Indian

book market has been growing at a rapid pace. Any international

publishing houses have set up offices here in the past few years.

That have a quick look at the markets. They are flat to weaker at

the moment, with losses of over 160 points in Japan.

the moment, with losses of over 160 points That is essentially taking

cues from the close on Friday. Deepening concerns about what is

going on in the Ukraine as well. Thank you for watching.

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