09/02/2016 Asia Business Report

Are now rendered Modi's economic reforms bearing fruit? We take a

look at the latest numbers for the Indian economy -- Narendra Modi's.

And doing the heavy lifting for struggling Filipino rice farmers.

Good morning. Let you could join us for this Tuesday edition of Asia

Business Report. We begin with economic growth in India and the

numbers are out, they show that the country's economy expanded by 7.3%

over the last quarter. There is little doubt it remains one of the

fastest-growing economies in the world. Some are sceptical about the

weak export figures and investment. And there are concerns about the

reliability of the numbers. Earlier I was joined by a banking sector

correspondent and asked how credible the numbers are. There have been

questions about it. There are still doubts about it and many are still

wrapping their heads around the new numbers including the central bank.

The point is that, in terms of assessing India, it might be easier

to assess it in terms of the momentum. But where is the momentum

headed? Narendra Modi's administration says that over two

years ago, they have kick started the flagging economy through a

series of reforms but are they on track? The economy has picked up but

it hasn't been as strong as was hoped for and secondly, there seems

to be some flagging momentum in the economy. We can see some of the

manufacturing figures have slowed quite a bit in the fourth quarter of

last year. Should we be patient with the administration? There is also a

lot of gridlock among politicians and in Delhi and he has done his

part of the last few years in terms of railways and local industries.

And you have a record fall in prices helping the economy. Absolutely. He

has certainly done some good work but he hasn't measured up to what

investors were hoping for. This shortfall has been made even worse

by the falling economy. The incremental gain is diminishing. A

big setback for Facebook is the country's -- company's regulator

rules against differential pricing for Internet services which means

they won't be able to bring its free basics project to India which offers

limited Internet services as well as Facebook for free. This also affect

a similar offer by a local provider. Facebook founder Mark

Zuckerberg has been on the charm offensive here to try to get his

scheme excepted. He has been insisting this isn't about

Facebook's commercial interests by giving people opportunities. A

spokesman said they would continue to try to eliminate barriers and

give access to the Internet. Critics have been celebrating the decision

by the regulator as they say the move was aimed to go against the

processes of net neutrality which promised equal access to data on the

Internet. Many feel small startups would have been particularly hard

hit. Over the past few years India has been a hub for startups,

attracting billions of dollars of investment from around the world.

Most have been focused on the cities but with the majority of Indians

living in rural areas, what difference would teaching

entrepreneurial skills to students make? Now we go to our

correspondent. Students from the local school out on an assignment.

The girls are scouting for entrepreneurs in their village. When

they find one, they ask him a list of questions. TRANSLATION: I learned

a lot about what people go through to set up a business through this

exercise. Especially about how they overcome challenges. Like this sweet

shop here or the many other stores along this road, you find that

typically in India's villages, most people are self-employed whether

they are operating farms or small businesses. If they were in big

cities comment they would be thought of as entrepreneurs, a concept that

tends to have a very urban feel to it and even a recent government

campaign to encourage startups definitely seemed city centric.

Around 70% live in rural areas here and many believe if entrepreneurial

skills were taught in these areas, it would go a long way to improving

lives. And that is what this not-for-profit organization is wrong

to do. They have been taking lessons -- teaching lessons in

entrepreneurialism in some of the poorest states and these that mix of

outdoor activities and textbooks to teach students things like

marketing, communications and financial planning. Entrepreneurship

as the concept is basically nonexistent in rural India but there

are businesses that are entrepreneurial ventures. Is making

parents and students realise that these are also of high-value and

that is the right tactics are used, they can be made into something big,

we will be successful. That is something not taught at most cools,

weather in rural or urban India but in most of the villages, a vast

majority of students will never have access to managerial school or

higher education. They will probably have to learn of his -- learn how to

run a business as they go along. Gap has seen numbers slump at all of

their major brands. They say the full-year profit will be strong,

despite this. New technology being developed in the Philippines could

give hope to thousands of farmers affected by storms and natural

disasters. The Philippines is hit by dozens of typhoons every year but

now genetic engineering is being used to protect crops from the

weather. To find out more, I recently visited North of Manila.

The rice bowl of the Philippines. It may look peaceful and serene but in

October, a powerful typhoon tore through this region and for this

farmer, it was a crushing experience. The third typhoon to

destroy his crops in as many months. By now his crops should have

been ready for harvest but Mother Nature has left him with nothing but

get. -- debt. He was able to harvest this land, he would have enough

money to live by FA six months -- if he. -- for the next six months.

TRANSLATION: I can't sleep because I haven't had any crops and I can't

pay for my debt. As a result, I don't have money to eat or feed my

family. It is a plight facing thousands of Filipino farmers as

more than 20 typhoons devastate agriculture areas across the country

each year. Rice is a crucial crop here as it is across Asia. Once a

major exporter, the Philippines has, in recent years, become an importer

because of shortages at home. At the National Rice Institute, Robert and

his team are trying to change all that. In these greenhouses,

researchers have edited the genes from robust rice species to make for

IDs that can withstand typhoons and floods. But they are not just

working at the molecular level. They are using these satellite pictures

to understand and map changes that the weather has on rice crops in

real time. One of the challenges facing rice farmers is that it is

almost impossible for them to get insurance. And that is because there

just simply is not enough information. With this combination

of technology on the molecular level all the way up to the outerspace

level, farmers can grow rice that is tolerant of very difficult

situations and have an insurance product that protects them so that

in case there is a loss, they will be reimbursed. It can't come soon

enough for families like this, who will now depend on more loans to get

them through the coming years. And on tomorrow's programme we will have

more on this story. Here is the fact, only 5% of Filipino farmers

have insurance to protect their crops. I will be speaking to a major

international insurance company hoping to change all of that. Here's

a quick look at the markets. Steep losses right now for Asian stocks

after US equities plunged overnight because of persistent fears of a

global economic slowdown. Also, oil prices have slumped yet again. Thank

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