20/08/2014 Asia Business Report


20/08/2014

Similar Content

Browse content similar to 20/08/2014. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!

Transcript


LineFromTo

Two air traffic controllers reportedly fall asleep, sparking

:00:14.:00:20.

questions about safety within China skies. Amid tough competition in the

:00:21.:00:29.

skies, Malaysia's Air Asia prepares to announce its first half earnings

:00:30.:00:36.

results. Thank you for joining us for this edition of Asia Business

:00:37.:00:41.

Report. I am Rico Hizon. It has been the talk of the Internet across

:00:42.:00:47.

mainland China, how plane was forced to stay in the air, unable to land

:00:48.:00:52.

because two air`traffic controllers had reportedly fallen asleep. The

:00:53.:00:59.

incident happened at Wuhan airport last month. Earlier I spoke to John

:01:00.:01:05.

's worth to find out more. It seems extraordinary. This is not just one

:01:06.:01:09.

sleeping air`traffic control but two, asleep together at the controls

:01:10.:01:19.

in the tower at Wuhan airport. This China Eastern aircraft was said to

:01:20.:01:22.

be already beginning its final descent when it radioed the tower,

:01:23.:01:28.

received no response, tried to contact them again, twice and in

:01:29.:01:33.

which, once in Chinese. But again no reply was given. The aircraft

:01:34.:01:37.

returned to an altitude of 900 metres, and circled for around 12

:01:38.:01:43.

minutes or so, if all contact was eventually established, and it was

:01:44.:01:48.

able to land `` before contact. We know what we know about this story

:01:49.:01:53.

because of document circulating online reportedly from China's civil

:01:54.:01:57.

aviation authorities, confirming that the reason for that loss of

:01:58.:02:00.

contact and that delay was because the air`traffic controllers had

:02:01.:02:04.

fallen asleep. We have been unable to verify the authenticity of that

:02:05.:02:08.

document, but we have had it confirmed from a member of staff at

:02:09.:02:16.

the airport, that the incident did take place. Air`traffic is set to

:02:17.:02:20.

become even heavier across China's skies, because the mainland carriers

:02:21.:02:24.

continue to expand their fleets. Is there something that China's

:02:25.:02:28.

aviation group is doing at the moment to prevent this from

:02:29.:02:32.

happening again? This incident was reported to have taken place on July

:02:33.:02:36.

the 8th this year, why there has been this delay in making the

:02:37.:02:42.

incident public, we don't know. But you have to wish you and that they

:02:43.:02:45.

will be looking at what went wrong. A huge amount of incredulity and

:02:46.:02:52.

anger about it online. China's air passengers already beleaguered eye

:02:53.:02:59.

long delays, offer examples, large flight cancellations due to military

:03:00.:03:03.

manoeuvres `` by long delays. The only thing is that looking online

:03:04.:03:06.

you can find similar reports. A number in the United States over the

:03:07.:03:10.

past few years of air`traffic controllers dozing off in the tower.

:03:11.:03:15.

Never two at the same time, I have to say. Staying with aviation,

:03:16.:03:21.

Malaysia's Budget carrier Air Asia and announces it is first half

:03:22.:03:25.

profits later today. Last year than at off at was cut by half, and they

:03:26.:03:31.

still face sums if competition. At the same time, Air Asia has been

:03:32.:03:37.

busy denying rumours it plans to buy a stake in a Japanese airline. I

:03:38.:03:41.

asked our correspondent for his predictions. We will see when the

:03:42.:03:44.

figures come out today that the profit will be lower. I have been

:03:45.:03:48.

facing a tough time with a lot of competition in the south`east Asian

:03:49.:03:51.

region. That will continue for at least the next quarter. They are the

:03:52.:03:56.

leaders in the Asia region, in the Budget carrier industry. What have

:03:57.:04:01.

been the issues? The issue has been there has been a lot of expansion

:04:02.:04:04.

which has gone on in the industry. And demand has not kept up. Where it

:04:05.:04:10.

has, airlines have had to cut fares to make ends meet. So their margins

:04:11.:04:14.

will be cut, is what we expect to see, as we have seen in the

:04:15.:04:18.

full`service carriers and Budget carriers in the region. They have

:04:19.:04:22.

been cannibalising each other, but over the past years, the Budget

:04:23.:04:25.

carriers have been very profitable, eating into the market share of the

:04:26.:04:29.

national carriers. So it is likely to be the trend going forward? Could

:04:30.:04:35.

be the consolidation in this of the aviation industry? We are starting

:04:36.:04:40.

to see consolidation already. Tiger has cut off some of its

:04:41.:04:43.

subsidiaries. They are focusing on Singapore, cutting planes. We are

:04:44.:04:48.

even seeing Air Asia saying they will sell some aircraft later in the

:04:49.:04:51.

year. I fully expect to see a lot more consolidation in the region.

:04:52.:04:55.

But Air Asia has been partnering in some major markets in the region,

:04:56.:04:59.

India, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, and there are rumours of

:05:00.:05:04.

a potential buyout of Japan's carrier. Do you think this would be

:05:05.:05:09.

a wise move, even though it was denied? I don't think it would be a

:05:10.:05:14.

wise move. It would not fit well with Air Asia's model. They would

:05:15.:05:17.

prefer to build something new that they can control. Buying an

:05:18.:05:22.

expensive carrier would be a difficult proposition for them. In

:05:23.:05:29.

other news, China's telecommunications giant ZTE is

:05:30.:05:32.

expected to announce a massive jump in profits. Expectations are for the

:05:33.:05:42.

Hong Kong listed company. Struggling handset maker HTC has modified

:05:43.:05:54.

telephone, and is selling it at at least half the price of the handset

:05:55.:05:59.

running Android. It is financially supported by Microsoft, and part of

:06:00.:06:03.

the company's attempt to gain US market share. Britain's banking

:06:04.:06:09.

giant has been hit with a second huge fine by New York's top banking

:06:10.:06:13.

regulator. This time the lender has been ordered to pay a fine and will

:06:14.:06:18.

face restrictions on its dollar business. It gets three quarters of

:06:19.:06:22.

its earnings from Asia and has been accused of failing to organise

:06:23.:06:27.

adequate money laundering controls. I spoke to our correspondent and

:06:28.:06:33.

asked more about this fine. These recurring compliance problems have

:06:34.:06:36.

definitely added two problems at the bank. In fact it warned its

:06:37.:06:41.

shareholders a few weeks ago at an earnings release that another fine

:06:42.:06:46.

would be coming. Now Standard Chartered has said that it is trying

:06:47.:06:49.

to improve its compliance with the utmost urgency. But clearly not be

:06:50.:06:54.

clear enough. The US regulator, the second fine, in as many years, for

:06:55.:07:01.

failing to improve money laundering problems that were first highlighted

:07:02.:07:05.

and spotted in 2012. Part of the business that involved is actually

:07:06.:07:11.

quite crucial for the bank on a US clearing. We understand the bank was

:07:12.:07:15.

concerned that all of its US clearing activities would be halted

:07:16.:07:21.

in New York. That it would no longer be allowed to clear in New York. At

:07:22.:07:25.

the bank has clarified and said now as a result of this fine, only two

:07:26.:07:30.

geographical areas would be affected. Certain retail clients,

:07:31.:07:34.

here in Hong Kong, and some high`risk relationships in the UAE.

:07:35.:07:42.

For how long will Standard Chartered the banned from the dollar clearing

:07:43.:07:45.

business? We're not sure about that. But according to the Hong Kong

:07:46.:07:51.

monetary authority, the de facto central bank here, it appears that

:07:52.:07:55.

the suspension is temporary. In their statement, they said they

:07:56.:07:59.

believed Hong Kong was affected are close this is its biggest, basically

:08:00.:08:04.

its biggest market. A lot of deals originate from here and are settled

:08:05.:08:10.

in America. And that is why it is affected. They also said that they

:08:11.:08:15.

are watching the bank, and they have spotted some areas which could be

:08:16.:08:19.

improved, but obviously no fines or other punishments at the moment. One

:08:20.:08:25.

of India's richest man is selling off some of his most valuable

:08:26.:08:28.

investments. Nothing unusual about that, except that he needs to raise

:08:29.:08:34.

billions of dollars so he can be released from prison. Our

:08:35.:08:39.

correspondent reports from Mumbai. He is no rockstar, during good

:08:40.:08:44.

times, he could entertain his employees with performances like

:08:45.:08:48.

this. But for the last five months, this flamboyant Indian billionaire

:08:49.:08:54.

has been held in India's largest reason. Jailed after failing to

:08:55.:08:59.

appear at a court hearing into a long`running dispute with India's

:09:00.:09:03.

market regulator. He is the owner of a conglomerate called the Sahara

:09:04.:09:09.

Group. They took millions from investors in return for the legal

:09:10.:09:13.

bonds. It says it has repaid most investors, a claim disputed by the

:09:14.:09:18.

regulator and the Supreme Court. Sahara Group has stakes in more than

:09:19.:09:23.

100 companies, with interests in TV channels, real estate, are

:09:24.:09:29.

controlling stake in a Formula One team, hundreds of retail outlets,

:09:30.:09:33.

and a number of world famous hotels. The group is one of dozens of

:09:34.:09:43.

properties owned by Subrata Roy around the world. He has been

:09:44.:09:47.

ordered to pay $1.6 billion bail. But to raise that kind of money, he

:09:48.:09:51.

has to offload some of his most valuable assets. There are reports

:09:52.:09:57.

that the Sultan of Brunei is keen on snapping up a couple of his New York

:09:58.:10:03.

Robert Hughes, including this, the iconic Plaza Hotel. He has denied

:10:04.:10:07.

it. And he is looking for a buyer for the Grosvenor house Hotel in

:10:08.:10:12.

London's Park Lane. If he manages to do those deals from his prison cell,

:10:13.:10:17.

he will be allowed to go home. But of course, the charges themselves

:10:18.:10:24.

will still be hanging over him. Thank you for investing your time

:10:25.:10:33.

with us. I am Rico Hizon, goodbye for now. The top stories this hour:

:10:34.:10:40.

Police in St Louis shoot dead a second

:10:41.:10:41.

Download Subtitles

SRT

ASS