29/10/2015 Asia Business Report

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

The guessing game continues as America's central bank stands on

interest rates. And cash is king. Ahead of historic

elections in Myanmar, we find out if there is space for a modern

financial services. Good morning, Asia. Glad you could

join us for this addition of Asia Business Report. There is no move,

the Federal reserve has kept interest rates at historic lows yet

again. Shares on Wall Street reacted positively to the news. And now you

have the markets from Australia and Japan opening for trading. Currently

mixed. Currently slightly below for Sydney. Why? And is there any clue

as to if they will be hiked by the end of the year? Many are sceptical

about the timing. I asked what the reaction would be in the region.

The probability in terms of market anticipation has increased to 45%

from 34%. What really is key in terms of what we do see is an

improvement in the US labour market. All eyes on payroll data on the

sixth of November and the fourth of December. Many Asian investors are

waiting for these key numbers. How much do you think is the slowdown in

the Chinese economy playing into the decision-making process of the Fed

board members? When you look through the statements, a couple of key

points. The labour market is still crucial. What was removed from the

statement was the market price action we saw in August. There was

this reference about monitoring global economic and financial

developments. It is almost behind us in times of the critical mass. Less

of a concern at this point in time. Let us do away with the guessing

game. Why doesn't it just raise the cost of borrowing? We have been

talking about this for 1.5 years now. When they do actually increased

interest rates, it is likely global sentiment will improve. And all this

uncertainty has weakened a lot of the emerging Asian currencies. Some

we have not seen since 1998. Until December, how should they position

and manage investment portfolios? A lot of the macro challenges for

China and so on are being factored in terms of earnings guidance. They

are booking across the story, not just focusing on headline GDP

numbers, looking at all the data and being very selective and thinking

about the long-term. Other business news making

headlines, Samsung recording its latest results and its profits

surging by nearly 30%. That is thanks to a new smartphone lineup.

Its performance had been affected by increasing competition from Apple

and cheaper Chinese smartphone products. Some good news from

neighbouring Japan. Factories have been busy in the month of September

with output rising 1%. That is thanks to brisk production of

electronic devices. In just over a week, Myanmar, one of

the poorest nations of South East Asia, will have a historic election

after 50 years of isolation. The economy is slowly opening up. The

lifting of sanctions has helped power growth by more than 8%. It has

created opportunities for more modern financial services. But some

things in the largely cash -based society are hard to change.

Early-morning in this market, you can smell it, as in the air.

Everybody has something to sell. People haggling over prices. Just

like in most of Myanmar, all of the transactions are taking place in

cash. In this society, cash is still king. At banks across the country,

money literally sits piled up in the Flora. Debit and credit cards are

still rare. Most people pay for even big-ticket items like a house or a

car in cash. Myanmar is trying to introduce more modern conventional

forms of banking that most of us in Asia are pretty used to, like ATM

cards. It is a pretty hard sell. Most people still only crossed the

kinds of services. Making a deposit into your account simply means

bringing the cash into the bank. This woman sells handicraft and has

just brought in the equivalent of $160,000. That is a month worth of

earnings. In stacks. TRANSLATION: We do not really use ATMs or cards. I

have always brought my cash to the bank. Most of the people I deal with

also use cash and not familiar with transfers. They do not understand

how to use ATMs. What would you do if you had to move 1 million? In

Myanmar, it is as easy as I get on the back of a pickup truck. --

throwing it. In stacks, of course. No armed guards, no fuss, just a lot

of cash on the mood. -- move. A lot of cash indeed. Whether it is

driverless cars or more efficient hydrogen fuel cells or electric

powered vehicles, major manufacturers are bringing out their

newest concepts at the Tokyo motor show this week. We asked why it is

so difficult to get straight answers about vehicles that have plagued

Japan's automotive industries. I have been trying to get somebody

who took to -- talk to me about the issue for months. It appears that

there is a conspiracy of silence surrounding this issue. Why? I do

not think there is a conspiracy of silence. I think they are dealing

with car manufacturers from our own side. Our concern is making sure. It

is in order to make sure it is so beautiful. Our diesel cars really

finished and is this a vindication of the policy going on electric? It

is going to go through a tough time. There is a lot of testing, which is

fine. Other people are getting back confidence on diesel. It is going to

be a difficult time. It is going to be on the downtrend rather than the

uptrend. Frankly, we have been on the electric car from the beginning.

There are low emission, so do is nothing to test. The emissions are

going to get much stricter. Last time we talked, Kyoto was showing

off their newest concept. -- Toyota. Elon musk has called hydrogen fuel

cell cars silly. You were pretty critical. Do you still think

hydrogen is not the way to go? I did not say that. I think the technology

is extremely interesting. But I think it is too early. When I see

the problems we are facing because of lack of infrastructure for

electric cars, which is very common, you can imagine, where

people are going to charge the cars. Before we go, a quick look at the

regional markets at the moment. Asia is cautious in trading. But there

are hints of a possible rate hike. Thank you for investing your time

with us. Goodbye for now.