12/11/2015 Asia Business Report

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

Talking tough on haze but Indonesia's government refuses to

name the companies under investigation. And could do better.

We look at why British universities are failing to attract students from

India. Welcome to Asia Business Report. The Chief of Staff to

Indonesia's president has personally apologised for the peatland fires

that have caused a health threatening haze across the region.

He again refused to name the companies the government is

investigating in relation to those fires. Earlier I spoke to a

correspondent in Jakarta about what the Chief of Staff actually said. He

said the Indonesian government knows they need to do more to tackle the

fires. They could have done better this year and he is promising they

are serious about tackling the issue, to make sure it doesn't

happen again. He is talking about significant legal changes and saying

the Indonesian government will repeal the laws that currently allow

farmers to slash and burn two hectares of land. He says that

companies who are found to have burned land will be punished and he

also says the government will not hand out any further concessions to

plantation companies on peatland and will be reviewing all existing

concessions. And also, they will release a transparent map that has

long been asked for by the government so that we have an idea

of who owns this land. Obviously, he told you they are taking many

precautions, but we know the economic costs have been large. One

estimate suggests it is about $14 billion alone this year. Despite all

these steps, can it be done so this issue doesn't occur again next

year? It will be very challenging for the government to turn this

situation around in just one year. The government is admitting these

problems have happened because of a buildup of years of mismanagement of

this land. A problem of corruption in Indonesia and deregulation where

you have governors handing out land on these peatlands, and police not

following through with regulations ordered by the central government.

Those challenges will be huge. There was also pressure from the industry

already, the palm oil Association has told me they will be warning the

Indonesian government that if it goes ahead with these moves to

restrict the expansion of palm oil concessions in peatland, it is

something they will be lobbying against and telling the president

that if he does that, there will be a negative economic impact. The

company which makes the Black Hawk helicopters was sold last week to

the world's largest defence contractor Lockheed Martin. In a

shot, there is growing demand for maritime surveillance as well as

rising tensions in the South China Sea and that has boosted orders for

helicopters which can track and torpedo submarines. Earlier I spoke

to a representative from the company about what the deal meant for them.

Certainly maritime security is very high on the list of priorities for

the region and other regions as well and with that, we see an increased

need for maritime helicopters. The Seahawks is the best helicopter on

the market operated by the US Navy and also by Singapore, Taiwan and

Thailand. China is amongst the highest military spenders in this

region but you cannot sell military helicopters to China, how does it

affect your business? We clearly follow US policy in all regards with

the export of defence articles. That is something that has always been

part of our business plan although we do have a vibrant commercial

market in China. Nonetheless, this is an opportunity that your company

could potentially explore. How much money are you losing as a result of

not being in China militarily? I would look at it more as an

opportunity in the region. With the tensions increasing, companies are

looking for a world-class military helicopter and we provide a

significant military determinants. -- deterrent. But it is also capable

of humanitarian and search and rescue operations. China's

e-commerce giant Alibaba has broken its own record for sales on the

country's Singles Day which was yesterday. It is the world's biggest

online shopping events and by the close of trade, the site had seen

sales worth $14.3 billion which is a 60% increase from last year. In

comparison, sales on Cyber Monday which is the biggest online shopping

day in the US, only had 1.3 5 billion. Anheuser-Busch has inked a

deal to take over its nearest rival with the biggest takeover global

corporate history, bringing together the world's two largest beer

makers. It will bring together the top beers with all the SAB Miller

brands. In Japan's core machinery orders rose in the fourth quarter.

They are leading indicator of business confidence. Orders rose

seven and a half % over recent months and is more than double what

had been estimated. Orders are still down compared to last quarter

meaning that the government still faces an uphill stock all in

convincing companies to invest. The latest implement figures from

Australia were out this morning and beat all expectations. In October

the jobless rate fell sharply to a five-month low. Unemployment fell to

5.9% from six point to a month earlier. Analysts do caution that

the figures are volatile but they do expect it to boost investor

sentiment. The Australian dollar gained 1% on that news. India's

Prime Minister Narendra Modi begins his visit to the UK today. Education

is one of the areas where the two countries will be hoping to increase

cooperation. The number of Indian students studying in Britain have

actually fallen by 50% in the past four years. Now we go to our

correspondent who takes a look at why Indian students are turning

their backs on British universities. Teaching his moves at

the University of Edinburgh. This Indian superstar was awarded an

honourary doctorate next month, drawing attention to British

University which really needs Indian attention. The number of Indian

students going to the UK for hire education has been cut in half over

four years. And even many of those who did study there are not happy.

This woman is the physiotherapist who specializes in breathing

disorders and she bore at nearly $18,000 to study in the UK but

because of Britain's visa policies, she had to return to India soon

after her course was finished -- borrowed. Because of my visa, I

didn't get work experience so I had come back year. After I came here, I

applied for jobs in most of the in Mumbai, but when they called me for

interviews come at the only question was how much experience I had in

this field. While the UK only allows students to stay for four months

after they finish their course to look for a job, other countries are

more generous. In the US, poststudy work visas can be for a period of 1-

two years depending on the course. Australia allows two years while in

Canada, students can stay for up to three years once they finish their

degree. For students here in India, the UK has been the most popular

destination for international studies after America because of the

quality of education and also the chance to study in English, a

language most Indian students are comfortable speaking. Because of the

changes in visa policies, many now think that a British degree is not

worth the investment. When David Cameron visited India two years ago,

he tried to woo Indian students back but it doesn't seem to have worked.

I'm not really sure we understand why numbers have fallen. There have

been some misperceptions about our offer and whether we are really

open. That is why I want to say today, that there is no limit on the

number of Indian students who can come to study in the UK at our great

universities and there is no limit on the number of Indian students who

can stay on and work in the UK, provided they get a graduate-level

job. That is a message the British government wants to reach youngsters

like these who are still contemplating studying in the UK.

But it might not be enough to convince them and that is a lesson

in Britain seems to be learning the hard way.

Let's take a look at the markets. They are still trading fairly flat.

The Nikkei is flat at the moment as is the Australian market. The Hang

Seng had opened slightly higher. This is in spite of the machinery

orders I told you about earlier that were positive in Japan as well as

the positive jobless numbers in Australia. Markets are fairly

tentative. Commodities are being sold off a great deal from a

particularly in Australia because energy prices have fallen. That is

it for this edition of Asia Business Report. Thank you for watching.

Aung San Suu Kyi is on the brink of taking power in Myanmar,