26/10/2015 Asia Business Report

Now on BBC News all the latest business news live from Singapore:

Asian stock markets gained in early trade after China cuts interest

rates for a fourth time this year. And from food to fuel. The village

in Indonesia using waste from tofu production to power its homes. Good

morning. Glad you could join us for Asia Business Report. We begin with

the markets and so far they are in positive territory. Australia, Japan

and South Korea are all up after China's decision to cut the cost of

borrowing yet again. The fourth rate cut this year and is sixth in a year

came late on Friday and was made on the eve of today's Communist Party

meeting in China to set economic policy for the next four years and

came after data showed the world's second-largest economy had slowed.

All of this will put pressure on the US Federal Reserve to hold off on

raising rates later this week. Let's cross over to our correspondent who

joins us now from our Hong Kong Bureau. So far, so good. Thumbs-up

from regional investors for this Chinese rate cut. That's right.

Asian markets are in the black, or perhaps I should say, in the green.

And what is interesting to note is that these gains mean that Asian

bosses on the whole are close to recouping all the losses since

August when China shocked the world by revaluing its currency. It looks

like those losses are close to disappearing. Of course, you are

right, thumbs-up from Asia but also in Europe and the US markets

immediately following use of that rate cut over on Wall Street -- the

news. Every time we talk about a rate cut from China, the initial

reaction is always positive but we do have to ask about what that means

about the state of the Chinese economy. It signals the fact that

the Chinese economy is not going to be returning to that double-digit

growth. Significant that this rate cut was implemented before a key

Chinese Communist Party meeting which was set economic and social

targets over the next few years. That's right. About 300 of the most

senior Communist Party leaders are meeting at a hotel in Beijing. The

meeting starts on Monday and ends on Thursday and what they will be doing

is putting together a report that sets the agenda for social targets

but very importantly, Chinese economic growth targets and other

financial reforms. Ahead of that meeting, the Chinese premier has

already been quoted as saying that the economic growth should not be

underestimated and also that the leadership has never committed to a

certain growth rate, say a 7%. So economists are watching this meeting

very closely for any sign as to what the priorities would be. Economic

growth or financial reform? Briefly amidst this China rate cut, you also

have the mainland's largest company listing on the Hong Kong stock

exchange? That's right. It debuts at the Hong Kong stock exchange and the

company made about $2 billion during its listing process. It's priced

near the top of its range. A lot of enthusiasm. The hope is that it will

spike on the day. Thank you. Before we move onto our next story, let's

have a quick look at how the markets are doing. They are all in positive

territory and is not quite signed, sealed or delivered but shares in

the main holding company for the state-owned giant in Japan, Japan

Post it will debut next month. It has 24,000 post offices across the

country and 195,000 employees. They also control the country's largest

bank. Investors from Japan will be able to purchase 80% of the shares

and 20% will be going to international investors. But as our

correspondent explains, it has been a controversial process, started

years ago by the former Prime Minister. The Prime Minister wanted

this IPO to happen ten years ago and it splits his government and ended

his premiership in the end because it has been highly controversial

here in Japan. It is a very conservative country and Japan Post

is the country's biggest bank and insurance company and there was a

lot of resistance to privatizing or selling off large chunks of this

very traditional, very safe, very Japanese institution. The current

Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, who was the last Prime Minister's protege,

is finally getting a start on this and 11% of these three companies

will be sold off next month on what will probably be the biggest IPO

worldwide this year. Japan has privatized former state-owned

monopolies in recent decades. How confident are analysts that this

Japan Post public offering will do well? It will do well because there

was a lot of interest in it here in Japan from a large number of retail

investors that are hoping to get between half a million and a

million. They're doing that by basically underpricing the shares.

They're looking at .45 of the book value of Japan Post which means

you'll get a bargain and you will do well which is encouraging many

people. There have been roadshows going around Japan whipping up

interest at hotels and conference enters over the last few months and

is why this initial public offering will be a success. Further down the

road, is a post office a good thing to be investing in? That is him and

to consider. More than 50 heads of state and Government from countries

throughout Africa are travelling to Delhi today as part of the trade

summit this week. The Indian government says it is one of the

most important events it has hosted over the last three decades. So what

are people hoping to see from the talks? It is the business community

here that has traditionally defined India's relationship with Africa.

Whether it is Punjabi farmers leasing large tracts of land for

agriculture or industrialists setting up telecoms factories. But

now the government wants to catch up and able do this with the huge noisy

affair. There will be ceremonial dances and camels and even Narendra

Modi sending his signature sleeveless jackets to every African

head of state he is hosting. And there is reason for all the fuss.

Annual trade between India and Africa rose to $70 billion today.

But the Thais still lag far behind China's. Now many see an opportunity

to narrow that gap. So India is hoping that stronger ties in trade,

oil and gas will overcome its own power shortages and they are

promising a warm welcome at the summit. They are keen to emphasize

that they want a brotherly partnership in contrast to China's

more assertive stance in Africa. Could there be something to learn

from small projects in developing nations in terms of renewable

energy? One village in Indonesia is using wastewater from the production

of tofu to create gas to provide power for homes. Now we go to our

correspondent. Tofu has been made like this for generations.

Deep-fried, it is a popular dish across the archipelago but here at

this factory they are not only producing food but fuel.

TRANSLATION: The energy can be used in households for cooking. The main

purpose is to reduce environmental pollution. He used to dump his waist

in the rivers, polluting waterways and the soil. But now, thanks to a

process developed by the state technology Institute, he is now

filtering the wastewater from an underground sewerage system. It is

then treated to produce biogas. Providing people like this one with

fuel ten times cheaper than gas -- like this woman. TRANSLATION: If I'm

using biogas I only need to spend about 10,000 rupiah a month. More

than 2000 factories have taken part in the experiment and their

producing nearly 300 times more biogas than is needed every day. The

project also aims to reduce Indonesia's carbon footprint. And

before we go, here's a quick look at the markets. Asia is sustaining the

gains in midmorning trade after China cut interest rates for a

fourth time this year and a six overall. Australia is gaining half a

percent. Thank you for investing your time with us. Goodbye for now.