22/09/2014 Asia Business Report

Manchester later today. Now on BBC News all the latest business news

live from Singapore. G 20 finance ministers say they are closing in on

their target for global economic expansion and job creation. And why

China is becoming one of the world's most important markets for

diamond sales. Thank you for joining us. Finance ministers from the 20

largest economies in the world have left a meeting in a showdown knowing

they have nearly achieved a target for boosting economic growth and

jobs. The host, the Austral then Treasurer, Joe hockey. `` Joe Hockey

said they have achieved their goal of setting targets of boosting GDP

by 2018. They are hoping to have positive news by the gathering of

the G 20 leaders in November. I spoke to our correspondent in

Sydney. You could say people are saying that things are going pretty

well. But the leaders are worried about the eurozone. 2% growth by

2018, but they are worried about Europe. That will mean big increases

in the number of jobs globally, but the question is, two years down the

road, will these targets have been met? And what Joe Hockey is saying

is he wants the growth to be driven by investment and infrastructure.

Estrada is pledging to invest hundreds 5 billion in infrastructure

projects. `` 135 billion dollars. While the Australian agenda is about

economic growth, we could see things have distracted by bigger issues.

One thing that came out of the issue was that Vladimir Putin will be

invited to the G 20 despite some controversy about Ukraine. That

could prove a distraction to the meeting in November. One of the key

topics were tax goals. Joe Hockey said there are new targets, when

will that be clicking in? A lot of these big global companies have

tricks up their sleeves to do their business in one place but end up

paying tax in different countries. What they are saying is that they

have this new system which allows the sharing of information between

countries. It will be interesting to see whether the accountants and up

to being one step ahead of the politicians. In other business news,

General Motors has recalled more than 220,000 cars to correct a brake

defect that could increase a risk of fire. It affects some Cadillac

models from predator ten and 2014, and recent versions of the Chevrolet

Impala. They have been no deaths or injuries resulting from the latest

problem, according to General Motors. China says it is to end its

restrictions around housing purchases to boost local markets.

More than 30 cities across the mainland have made similar

initiatives to boost economic growth. In 2011 China put limits on

the number of homes locals could buy it's a very hot property markets.

But a slow sales this year have left cities overstock. It is said diamond

is RA girl's best friend, and this is true in China. Sales of diamond

jewellery to mainland consumers grew by 31% over the last ten years, the

fastest growing market in the world. `` 21.

Will be markets stay bullish? Power Hong Kong correspondent put that

question to the chief executive of De Beers. It will be strong but

maybe a little bit wide than what we enjoyed in the last ten years. In

the foreseeable future, diamond jewellery sales will remain around

10% or higher. Not as big as 20% but 10% is as big as a growth we can

enjoy around the world. Ten years ago China was 3% of the world

market, now it is 13% to 15%. 10% growth over a bigger base is

equivalent to 20% in a smaller market. We believe greater China is

the engine of growth for the future. The biggest buyers last year were

married women looking for something special for themselves, and not the

bridal market. What is industry doing to try to broaden its fan base

in China? The main customers for diamonds are women who already own a

diamond. I am not surprised that women in China are buying themselves

a diamond because they received wonderfully and want more. Repeat

purchase is always very good in our business. Let us talk about prices.

Given that there is likely to be less production over the next ten

years, will prices rise? Prizes will fluctuate with the economic

environment. That prices. The bumps up and down high not that big.

Diamond prices, they have always been increasing over the years. If

you are looking for an investment, not over one or two years, but over

five or ten years, diamond prices are increasing. China is the main

growth driver, but what about other economies such as India? We have a

very solid base with the Japan today, and very strong growth in

China. Just behind it India is a good engine for growth in the next

three to four years. Indonesia, Thailand and those countries could

become the next sources of growth. So Asia is a big carrier for us.

This week India's mission to Mars reaches a crucial stage when

scientists attempt to space they `` Place a spacecraft into the Martian

orbit. What will success mean to the multi`million space industry? ``

multimillion dollar. India's made on Mars mission was successfully

launched in November last year. And after travelling more than 600

million kilometres, the spacecraft is now on the cusp of entering the

Martian orbit. The aim of finding signs of life on the red punnet.

This is the epicentre of India's Mars mission. `` punnet. Nearly 200

scientists have been working around the clock monitoring the

spacecraft's movement. They are nowadays away from discovering if

the mission was a successful is what the project director knows it

specked patients are high. He says he's not worried if everything does

not go to plan. We should not be worried about failure. That is the

basic value of our organisation. When you take up such projects which

are challenging and very dreamlike, we are living the dream. This is

space exploration on a budget, $73 million to be precise, less than

1/10 of what Nasser has spent on its Mars satellite. Critics question

whether a country such as India where one third of the population

lives below the poverty line should be spending money on space

programmes at all. But a former head of the space agency of India says

missions like these are essential for a growing economy. Nations can

be prosperous but to be an economic power you have to be strong in terms

of various areas where the country has to go beyond survival.

Sustaining a high level of growth involves science and technology.

India's ambition is to overtake China and Japan in the field of

space exploration. Whatever the outcome of the mission, NASA and

India's space agency are in talks to work together on further studies of

Mars. With that we end this edition of

Asia Business Report. Thank you for your time. Welcome back.