02/06/2016 Asia Business Report


02/06/2016

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

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The US Treasury Secretary begins his trip to Asia. An industry buzz: We

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look at the lies be exported trade. -- live bee. Glad you could join us

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for this Thursday edition. The United States has accused several

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Asian nations of manipulating the value of their currencies, including

:00:50.:00:56.

China, Japan and South Korea. The weakest, South Korea, is likely to

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be high on the agenda when the US Treasury Secretary visits Seoul

:01:00.:01:03.

today and meet the country's Finance Minister. Earlier I spoke with an

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analyst in Seoul. I think the level of the Korean yuan is very fair, and

:01:12.:01:19.

in the case of career it is declining even more than the current

:01:20.:01:24.

level. It is not a currency issue, it is about having the right

:01:25.:01:27.

products and targeting the right export markets. This political

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football, that is a fair phrase. It plays well at home even though it is

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not supported by the reality overseas. The fact of the matter is

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that the US is actually a very poor exporter of its goods and services.

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It is not very competitive at exporting, even though it is a great

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importer of other goods and services. For the likes of South

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Korea, it is not just about trade with the US, but with their other

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major partners such as China and the Japanese. With the strength of the

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Korean yuan, they have remained uncompetitive with the Chinese and

:02:11.:02:18.

Japanese products? Yes. For Korean exporters, in the range of

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comparison from the yuan to the dollar, any comparison would be

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hurting them. The biggest problem is the volatility of the Korean yuan.

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It would be far better if it were more stable. -- won. They are

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frightened of incurring the wrath of the US Treasury by failing to manage

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the stability of the Korean won. Staying with South Korea, there

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economy grew I half a percent in the first quarter this year. That is

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according to the latest figures from the Central Bank. The GDP expanded

:03:02.:03:11.

by 2.8%. Construction grew by 4.8%, with increases in building,

:03:12.:03:14.

construction and civil engineering. Services expanded by half a percent.

:03:15.:03:26.

Uber has raised $3.5 billion from Saudi Arabia's wealth fund. They

:03:27.:03:29.

will be expanding into the Middle East. The investment was part of

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Uber's latest financing round. It valued the company at 62.5 billion.

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Its rival companies have also reported major investments this

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year. It started as one of the most serious risks facing the economy,

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the Brexit and the possibility of the UK voting to leave the EU.

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Voting takes place in three weeks. I asked a professor about the

:04:02.:04:07.

likelihood of a vote in favour of exiting the EU and what it could

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mean for Asia. If the referendum were to take place today, I would

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say there was probably a fairly strong likelihood that Britain would

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vote to remain. Around 53% -47%. However, the opinion polls tend to

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be unreliable. The referendum is still three weeks away. It is

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difficult to estimate what kind of turnout will take place on the day

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of the referendum. Some events could take place that could influence

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voting behaviour on the voting day. Right now, it is almost impossible

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to predict any outcome with certainty. What if there is an exit

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from the EU? What are the implications for Asian economies in

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terms of businesses with British ties? The economies most strongly

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affected will be those that trade heavily with Britain, such as

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Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea. They will be the most

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strongly affected. What about the economies that don't have extensive

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relationships with reduced businesses and have more enterprises

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connected with the United States? Will they also be affected in one

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way or another by a Brexit? I think the primary impact of the Brexit

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would be felt through its effect on the world economy. If there is a

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strong and powerful knock-on effect, if there was a consequence for

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Britain opting to leave, other countries might think of doing the

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same thing. This danger is not immediate, but it could lead to the

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unravelling of the EU. That would certainly have a depressing and the

:06:00.:06:05.

stabilising effect on the economy in general. If the UK does leave the

:06:06.:06:11.

EU, would they have to start negotiating every trade agreement

:06:12.:06:21.

from scratch. A sickly, yes. The WTO was saying that the UK will have to

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renegotiate its trade deals with the rest of the world more or less from

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scratch. This would be an extremely burdensome undertaking given that

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since 1973, the EU has been responsible for the external trade

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relations of the United States. Basically, Britain will have to

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negotiate its trade arrangements with EU member states and the rest

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of the world. They play eight key role in food production, pollinating

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about a third of the world's crops. I am talking about bees. Populations

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are in decline because of disease. Tasmania is one of the few places in

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the world that has not seen a decline. It has been lucrative to

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sell these live bees overseas. We spoke about shipping these bees to

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Canada. Wherever I go and people asked me what I do, I tell them I'm

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a beekeeper. I tell them that we export like bees to another country.

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They are amazed that we send lies bees. They are very surprised. My

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name is Lindsay Burke and I am the president of the Tasmania

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beekeepers' Association. I am the largest exporter of lies bees in

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Australia. Canadians have a problem with the terrible mite that has

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spread right around the world, except Australia. So they are very

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happy when these come to them from our healthy environment -- live bees

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-- bees. We have to continually smoke the highs and use mallets and

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is that nature to get the to come to the top -- get the bees. -- things

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of that nature. Then we put them in a box and carefully into a little

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container. That is ?3, that is the measurement. Then it's put into a

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little bee box, with some food to last them on their journey, then the

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queen is putting. That is a package. We send them to Launceston, they are

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carefully packaged and then sent overseas. Within two or three days,

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they arrive. Sometimes the temperatures are very cold, but they

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put them out and away they go. Last year, Australia exported 17 pallets.

:09:23.:09:32.

Eight of those came from my farm. We know that we have a surplus of bees

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and other people need them, so we can send them off for export. We all

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do things for money, but it's very nice when you're doing something

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that other people really appreciate. And we know that our Canadian

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beekeepers really appreciate the very healthy bees that we send from

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Tasmania. Indeed, a very successful bees-ness. Having a look at the

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markets. You can see that Asia is in negative territory.

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Thank you so much for investing your time with us.

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The top stories this hour: A British man is facing a life sentence

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after pleading guilty to more than seventy charges

:10:43.:10:45.

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