07/09/2016 Asia Business Report

Now it's time for Asia Business Report with Rico.

Leaders get down to business in Laos. And tying the knot in front of

strangers, the start-up offering tourists novel experience of an

Indian wedding. Good morning, Asia, and hello world.

It is Wednesday. Glad you could join us for this edition of Asia Business

Report. The Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte is striking a more

conciliatory tone this morning saying he regrets using insulting

language against the US president over extrajudicial killings in the

Philippines putter drug war. We'll be friction linger as the ASEAN

leaders meeting gets down to business? I am joined by our

correspondent. If the name calling continuing on day two of this ASEAN

summit, or has it been forgotten and it is now business, business,

business? Well, I think it would be fair to say that the name-calling

will not continue into today. It was the topic of discussion on the first

day of the summit, also at the sidelines with discussions media

people were having in the corridors at the National convention centre.

Today it is all about the big meetings, and if you just look

through the guide for the events that are expected to take place

today, as many as seven meetings with some of ASEAN's major trading

partners, China, the biggest partner for ASEAN, we kick off the day with

a meeting between ASEAN and China, then a ASEAN and Japan and a ASEAN

and Korean, followed by a ASEAN and Australia meeting today. A packed

day of discussions between ASEAN and some of its key partners in the

region. China is a key partner of many ASEAN countries. Yes, China has

really boosted economic growth in ASEAN over the last decade or so. As

China's economy has grown, we have seen a corresponding effect and in

packed in economies around the region. We sell a lot of that stuff

to China, but what is also happening is as China's economy is starting to

slow down, there has been a corresponding effect across the

region, and now a lot of ASEAN nations have had to figure out a new

strategy. In the mix of all of this is the issue of the South China Sea.

From the draft declaration that is being circulated amongst some people

here at ASEAN, it doesn't appear that the issue will take centre

stage or that the language around the South China Sea will be as

strong as some would have liked, and don't forget ASEAN is a consensus

-based form and decisions are made as a result of everyone agreeing on

the same thing. It may well be that some of the partners, some of the

member states, did not want that strong language included. We will

have to leave it there. Thank you for the update on day two of the

ASEAN leaders' summit. Going for gold, as Charlie are

expected to have a remarkable 25 years of growth -- is jolly. The

only other developed nation to have achieved asymmetric feet is the

Netherlands. For more on what is driving the Australian economy, we

spoke with an HSBC chief economist for stadia. It is impressive. We

managed to avoid having a recession when the global financials crisis

hit, any IT bubble burst in the early 2000, and when the global

financial crisis struck more recently. 25 years of continuous GDP

growth in Australia, it is the longest period of our own expansion

and the bonus period of expansion across the OECD economies for that

period. The Netherlands did it for 26 years, they went into the global

financials crisis and had a downturn. Can this be sustained,

especially with the big risk hanging over Australia, China? So far so

good. A lot of our success has today with our strong ties to the Chinese

economy. When the global financial crisis came along, a strong pickup

in the mining sector helped to bail Australia out. We had a big room and

increase in commodity prices, mostly driven by China. -- boom. As

commodity prices fell and China's demand for commodities slowdown,

Australia has been able to shift its economy towards services.

When you see an ad online, you are looking at the growing basis of ad

technology. A Chinese consortium bid $800 million for one of the largest

deals in the industry. To get his day, we have been speaking to the

head of Bliss. He sought his first company three years ago for 21

million US dollars. We asked what the deal means. It is an encouraging

sign that there is huge appetite in the digital advertising technology

scene. The fact that the buying group is an Asian consortium or

Chinese consortium obviously shows that these large advertising and

data driven technology companies are still on the forefront of

innovation. And there is a lot of other type of those type of

businesses still. You say the industry is growing, especially in

Asia, but we are already seeing economies like China starting to

slow. Can this great continue at the same pace? No, it won't sustained

and it will slow. However, the size of the market is joined. -- giant.

Therefore while you don't have to be in a space that is going, if you

have a differentiated proposition and the best in market technology,

you cannibalise other people's revenue streams and eat market

share. That is what we have been able to do in markets where it is

more established and is not blowing at that rapid pace. How would you

like to attend a wedding in India for a fee? That is a new business

idea kicking around to help newlyweds recoup their wedding

costs. It can run into the tens of thousands of dollars. With this make

their big day a little less special? We attended one such wedding in

Bangalore and got this report. CHURCH BELLS RING

-- CHURCH BELLS RING meet this is struggling in Spanish person, taking

part in the wedding but not related to friends with the bride and groom.

In fact, they have paid to be here -- Australian. I don't know if words

describe what we just experienced. A traditional Indian wedding can run

for up to a week. These wedding tourists have chosen the first day,

music, times and henna. It is so wonderful to be brought into a

family and see all of this completely different cultural

experience. And their hosts are one of the first couples to use a new

start-up that helps people around the world invite total strangers to

their wedding for a price. She called me one day and said, let's do

this. It looks like a good idea. Everyone around us like how could

you trust people? They could be some crazy person coming. On day two,

more tourists. A couple from Ireland, Pembroke, who has come from

New Zealand. -- and Luke. The couple have made about $400 from tickets

us, but that doesn't go far when you pay for things like food and

transport. The extent is more exciting. Even my family were

excited to have a foreign person in our wedding. I feel a bit bad about

arriving with no flowers or gift. We give them a smile. But to even do

that, they will have to queue along with 1000 others. Food is a huge

part of an Indian wedding, and so is dressing up for the occasion. CHURCH

BELLS but while they have enjoyed

themselves, would-be travellers like the idea of people they don't know

coming to their weddings? I'm not sure it would be same for a wedding

in New Zealand, especially in my family. We are very small, only 50

people. It is an idea clearly not for everybody. But if this business

takes off, weddings might not just be a social occasion, but for some,

a way to earn money as well. A very interesting business concept.

Before we go, a quick look at the markets. The opening numbers are in

Asia. You have the Japanese stock market down by 148 points, about a

full %. This is because of the stronger yen against the US dollar

due to weaker economic data coming out of the US. The Hang Seng index

will open in about 15 minutes. The All Ordinaries index is up buy

templates due to resource prices because traders and analysts are

expecting better earnings data coming out over the next few months

-- up ten points. That is it for this edition of Asia Business