17/06/2014 Asia Business Report

Wales. The government said it is spending more than ever on flood

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

Singapore. Nine`month highs amid current sermons of conflict in Iraq.

Thousands of Cambodians are fleeing Thailand as authorities cracked down

on illegal workers. Thank you for joining us on Asia Business Report.

US could be deploying up to 275 US military personnel to Iraq amid

concerns that the conflict is escalating. The government has been

battling Islamic militants and there are fears that the country is

inching towards civil war. Iraq is the second largest oil producer in

the OPEC member countries. There are concerns that the violence in Iraq

could spark a broader regional conflict pushing oil to its highest

price since September. Here are the figures currently. Earlier I spoke

with a resource analyst from a research firm and asked if we could

expect more price volatility in the days ahead. When you have a look at

the production profile of Iraq, the main producing fields are in the

south of the country near the Persian Gulf and the key exporting

facilities are also down in that region as well. At this point, the

fighting has been confined to the north and the amount of oil that has

come out of the northern part of Iraq over the last three months has

been zero. We would have expected to see a price rise once Mosul fell and

we did see that happen but it has been rather constrained because of

those very reasons of supply location. At what point do you think

prices will rise beyond current levels? There is no doubt that if we

see fighting start to move down beyond and into the South, we would

see again a spike in oil prices as certainly production from the south

of the country comes under threat. The world can cope with that quite

comfortably as Iraq currently exports to .5 million barrels per

2.5 million per day. Logistics have got very used to the supply coming

or going. How is Russia's volatility affecting crude oil prices? The

market is happening in the Middle East. There

will be some movement in gas prices but probably not across the world

but there may be some impact in Europe and that is because gas pipes

run through the Ukraine and so they may cut gas supplies to the Ukraine

the but perhaps also across Europe. Staying with the commodities based,

Shell is selling shares with some being sold to institutional

its stake in Woodside. More than 100,000 Cambodians have crossed the

border and returned home in recent days although the government has

denied that they are forcibly repatriating them due to concerns of

foreign workers. I spoke to a correspondent who works in this area

and asked which sectors would most be affected. Many of them work on

construction sites and agriculture and fishing and those are going to

be the main sectors hit a departure. What we have seen the

economy in Thailand contracting in the previous quarter, `2.1%,

the exodus of these migrant workers, could this impact

`` these industries severely and would it impact the economy? I think

we will see an impact although hopefully, it will be a limited one.

As you said, the exodus has been confined to Cambodian nationals at

the moment but if it's spread to the many more neon mar `` Myanmar

nationals, then it will have a severe impact on the economy. What

with the job situation be like in Thailand at the moment? It is an

interesting mix of factors. It seems to be a case of mass hysteria which

is possibly... It may be from the good intentions of the government

trying to address issues of human trafficking but rumours has spread

that this may be a military crackdown against illegal migrants

and they have tried to preempt that I leaving the country `` by. It is

hardly surprising given the information vacuum in Thailand at

the moment that has been imposed by the junta. GM is recalling more than

3 million additional cars you to faulty ignition switches. The US

auto giant is also increasing the money it has set aside to cover the

costs in the second quarter. GM has recalled about 20 million vehicles

overall this year, roughly double its annual sales. The international

monetary fund has cut its growth forecast for this year and expects

the world's largest to grow to buy just 2% from its initial forecast of

8%. It expects that America will not achieve full employment until the

end of 2017 which will give the government scope to keep interest

levels at low levels for a longer period. The South American nation is

being ordered to pay back millions of dollars to creditors despite its

weak finances. This is in Argentina. Stocks have fallen from this latest

development. Greenpeace has lost more than $5 million due to a bad

that in the currency market `` a bad bet. It was a wager that the euro

would not strengthen against other currencies in 2013. Greenpeace

apologised and said that the employee who wagered Bale made to

make `` who made the wager has been fired. We're going to a plant in

Malaysia where PineWood has been set up. It is on an 80 acre site that is

roughly the size of 60 football pitches. You cannot see it but it is

all happening down behind me where a television series is being filmed.

We cannot show you the filming as it is all in lockdown but I am here at

a soundstage where filming is carried out. Why filmed here in

Malaysia? Were going to talk to a producer from Marco Polo

Productions. This 30% rebate is saving us millions of dollars. By

slashing the cost of filmmaking, is Malaysia pricing out other film

studios? Yes it is starting to. It is cost prohibitive. There are

certainly savings to be made that there must be challenges in filming

in a place like this. You have to fly everyone in and house them and

feed them and give them things to do on a weekend. If the Malaysian tax

incentive pays off for Malaysia, he will have an industry but that will

take five or ten years before the skill level comes up and people can

be trusted in key positions. Team to develop its local film industry, the

Malaysian government joined forces with PineWood to set up this $173

million facility. It means new jobs and businesses have been created but

what is in it for the studio? If all of the economic forecasts are

predicting roughly a doubling in the form of filmed entertainment in the

next ten years, the studios will be part of a suite of studios around

the world to service that command. In fact, millions of dollars are

being spent here and big money is being made whether it is stage crew,

set designers or catering companies, hundreds of new jobs are being

created. The opportunities are immense and time will tell whether

the studios will become global players in the film industry. Thank

you for joining us. Sport Today is up next. The main news stories.

Islamist extremists have made gains in Iraq. The US says it is deploying

military personnel to Baghdad to protect American