05/06/2014 Asia Business Report

but they are said to be responding well to treatment. Now on BBC News,

all the latest business news live from Singapore. Campaigning begins

in Indonesia to choose the next president. A look at what this will

mean for the mining industry. Taxi troubles, Malaysia's cab drivers

block traffic in the capital, over low fares and unlicensed

competition. Thank you for joining us. Campaigning is now under way in

Indonesia for the upcoming presidential elections in July. The

race is between the Governor of Jakarta, seen as clear favourite,

and a former general. Whoever wins will take power from Susilio Bambang

Yudhoyono, who cannot do another term. Both want to further develop

the mineral and resort sector. A management partner at a consulting

firm says he is confident that the new president will help bring

stability to the mining sector. Once we know who is the president,

stability and investment will come back towards the mining industry.

With the new mining laws in place, what will it mean for the existing

players, and for those who would still like to come? For existing

players, it comes into effect now. For players still to build smelters

in Indonesia to process the natural resources domestically and create

prosperity, this causes problems, because you need a power plant and

human capital, but on the other hand it boosts investment because

smelters are costly to build, in the range of $1`$2 billion. And it

creates a lot of output. In terms of mining automation. It will be

capital`intensive, but is the government planning to bring in

foreign labour or train local staff? I think they will have to train

local staff, there are no plans to bring overseas labour to work at the

smelters. Smelter is not very manpower intensive in any case, it

is more about the skill set. It is more about the ability to run the

smelters, it is very important they have good years ahead in Indonesia.

New data shows growth in China's service sector has fallen to a four

month low. It goes against the official numbers released earlier

this week by the government, which shows the world's second largest

economy has stabilised. According to the European lender, it is down from

April's total of 51.4. Despite the fall, the sector is still expanded.

South Korea's economy grew in the first quarter of 2014. Revised data

from the central bank reveals 0.9% expansion for January to March.

Compared to the last quarter. Businesses and markets around the

world are waiting for the next move by the European Central bank. The

ECB Governor is expected to announce measures to boost the flagging

economy across the 18 countries that use the euro. An interest rate cut

could see investors pull funds out of Asia and put them back into

Europe. Taxi drivers gathered in the Malaysian capital yesterday to block

traffic in protest over low fares and illegal competition. Unless the

government steps in to help, they say it is simply not possible to

earn a living. Our correspondent has more from Kuala Lumpur. Cab drivers

in the capital city of Malaysia are venting their anger. This is the

third protest they have staged in a matter of months. The biggest

complaint, the government is not doing enough to stop illegal taxi

operators from flying into Kuala Lumpur and renting private cars to

ferry tourists, while licensed taxi drivers are heavily taxed and are

finding it hard to make ends meet. Here in the heart of Kuala Lumpur,

are hundreds of taxi cabs, on the street, as hundreds of cab drivers

come together in angry protests. TRANSLATION: We signed a memorandum

to the traffic authority, and waited 14 days for an answer, but there was

no response. Today, we are here not to fight against the government, we

want our rights as taxi drivers. We have been dominated and treated

unfairly. I spoke earlier to some taxi drivers, and they have said

that takings have fallen by almost 80%. And some taxi drivers have been

unable to meet the rental takings for driving a taxi for almost three

weeks now. So we need someone from the government, any agency, to come

forward to help us, because none of them are doing anything. That is why

we came down this way, we don't have any choice. However, many passengers

in Kuala Lumpur are equally unhappy with the city's official taxis. I

have been conned, not once or twice but many times, during my trips to

KL. Sometimes, they take a longer route. You don't want to go with

them, they charge more, or they have a fixed rate. I think it is mainly

because there is a lot of traffic, and that is the excuse they give. I

haven't seen many metres, but I saw one last night. For now, the

grievances are simmering on all sides. Until business improves for

these cab drivers, protests like these look like they will continue

to block traffic on busy streets in Kuala Lumpur. Located on the

doorstep of China, Asia's biggest technology show is attracting new

buyers from the mainland. It is only in recent years that relations

between the two sides have improved. That has been good news for the

organisers of Computex. This year, more than 38,000 buyers are coming

from many countries around the world to attend the show, and one of the

fastest growing groups of buyers are those from mainland China. With me

is the executive vice president of the show's organiser. Can you

explain to us why there are more Chinese buyers coming? Yes, Computex

is an important platform for procurement. In the last five years

we had more Chinese visitors coming here. This year, we are expecting to

have 5000 visitors from mainland China. This year, the main subject

is wearable devices, hand`held devices, and internet... Of things.

About 20% of our exhibitors are from internet companies. Other Chinese

buyers also interested in the Internet of things and wearables?

About 40% of our trade goes to China. Last year, we exported ten

billion US dollars of ICT products from Taiwan to mainland China. The

Chinese domestic market is still growing for ICT. The young people

use more ICT products. It is not just Computex that has seen an

increase in Chinese buyers this year. Technology trade shows from

around the world are also expected to see an increase in Chinese

visitors in coming years. Chinese companies are not only interested in

purchasing, but building partnerships with their counterparts

in different countries, as they expand beyond the domestic market,

into the global arena. These days it is easy to walk into a store and buy

the latest television, computer or smartphone, but what happens to the

ones you throw out? Electronic waste or E`waste mostly ends up in

developing countries, like India and China. Stephen Rogers is a director

of ecological affairs at Ericsson, asking who should tackle this

problem. We have a programme called extended responsibility. That means

that we take responsibility for our products from the design and

development stage, through production, through supply, and

through the life cycle, and when they come to end`of`life. We recycle

the electronics in a legitimate, environmentally correct manner. We

can actually achieve 98% recovery, which means that less than 2%

actually ends up in landfill. Currently at Ericsson, how much of

your products do you end up recycling, and what is the goal in

the coming years? Last year we took back approximately 8% of what we put

on the market. Put on market meaning that with we put 100 products on the

market, we take back eight. Our objective for this year is to take

back 17%. What spurred this? Having been to Africa many times in seeing

these waste dumps, it is appalling to see it. Not to mention the

poverty that people live in. And of course, that is the last place on

earth we want our products to end up. Raw materials, prices, in the

future, and availability, they will become an issue. And if we are still

forced in five years' time to buy raw materials on the market, the

price will be considerably higher than what it is today. Stephen

Rogers, Director of Ecology Affairs at Ericsson. Let's have a quick look

at the markets. Asian stocks are mostly lower as investors await a

key decision of the European Central bank on the cost of borrowing. Also

not helping, a drop in China's services index, which is at a four

month low. Thank you for investing your time with us, sport is up next.

The top stories this hour: In Hong Kong, tens of thousands turn out to