09/12/2016 Asia Business Report


09/12/2016

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economy. And Singapore is pulling the plug on two G mobile phones. --

:00:00.:00:13.

2G. Welcome to Asia Business Report. South Korea's political drama

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reaches a pivotal moment today. Members of Parliament are expected

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to hold a vote on whether to impeach President Park Geun-hye, who was

:00:23.:00:25.

embroiled in a corruption scandal that has riveted the country and

:00:26.:00:30.

paralysed administration. The country's finance and it has voiced

:00:31.:00:35.

concern about further risk to an already weak economy, what is the

:00:36.:00:40.

scandal to blame? Earlier I spoke to the chairman of advanced capital

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partners in Hong Kong for his view. South Korea's economy was in a week

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state already. During the last couple of years the growth rate has

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declined and for the first time in the last 50 years the economy is now

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growing more slowly than the world economy. We think of the world

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economy as about 3%. Korea is lucky if it will see 2.5% growth rate. The

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prospect does not get better. What needs to have had to try to bring

:01:12.:01:15.

the economy out of this economic slump? As you say it is not just the

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political impact, there is also the slowdown in the region and globally.

:01:21.:01:25.

Yes, but really those things aren't to blame for this. Korea has an

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amazing amount of potential still. It sits right next to China, which

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is happily growing up to something in excess of 6% per annum. South

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Korea should be piggybacking on that. What Korea needs to make

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paradigms shift over the last decade and has failed to do so. The most

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critical element of that is the human capital. But the only natural

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Korea has. That human capital needs of the education, revitalisation, to

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prepare them for the jobs of the future. There are quite a few young

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Koreans, the alleged Koreans and older Koreans out of work, but they

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don't have the skills needed for the day's economy and certainly not for

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the economy of the future. So in a nutshell it is really about

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education and that needs to be led from the government in many

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respects. Asia may be rich in resources, but

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one in ten of the region's workers lives in extreme poverty. That's

:02:31.:02:34.

according to the International Labour Organisation, which has just

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wrapped up a meeting in Indonesia. They say governments should focus

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less on boosting employment and more on creating better quality jobs.

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Joining the live is the director-general of the ILO.

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Welcome. You've just ended your meeting in Indonesia, in Bali. It

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takes place every four years, with labour ministers and representatives

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from unions as well as employee representatives from the region.

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What were some of the big concerns that came out of the meeting? I

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think you've summed it up with two words. We have this region which is

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seen around the world as a success story. It has succeeded in lifting a

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lot of people out of poverty, but there are two questions. One, will

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the region be able to sustain its economic dynamism and success in

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rapidly changing conditions, and secondly, and perhaps this is the

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strongest, how can we make this economic dynamism more inclusive, to

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share the benefits more broadly across the societies? That's right.

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That's a question that many are posing, including to your

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organisation, the International Labour Organisation. Many say it is

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almost a century old, a bit of a mammoth, and haven't ensured that

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there labour practices are insured across the region. What are you

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trying to do to pressure government in the region to comply with your

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standards? And old organisation, but one with a mandate which is so

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relevant to circumstances around the world today. As we are seeing people

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question the current models of globalisation, simply because it is

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in sharing its benefits fairly enough. So what needs to be done in

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Asia? Well, we do think economic dynamism and growth and jobs needs

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to be maintained. If we are going to meet the United Nations 2030 agenda

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goal, decent work for everybody over the next 15 years, we have to create

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249 million jobs in the Asia-Pacific region in the next 15 years. So we

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have to keep it going, but we need to develop all sorts of labour

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market institutions, better social protection, better respect for

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workers, to make sure those benefits reach everybody. You talk about the

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249 million jobs that need to be created by 2030. What happens if

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they can't created? Could we see social unrest or worse? I think, and

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I wouldn't focus particularly on this region in this regard, we are

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seeing in our political life people beginning to say enough. We want

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something different. That can be disruptive and damaging, what I

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think the proper reaction is to take a look at our current policy

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settings in the field of labour and make those imported things, social

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protection, collective bargaining, minimum wages, those are the

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answers. Briefly, we know you are off to Bangladesh next, which is

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still trying to improve labour standards in the 2013 Rana Plaza

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fire that led to a loss of over 1000 lives. How far would you say

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Bangladesh has come in terms of improving its labour standards?

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We've come a long way and the top is not finished. After the Rana Plaza

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incident happened in 2013, we thought we had to join international

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and national effort is to make sure the ready-made garment industry, so

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important for Bangladesh's development, was sustainable, which

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meant making it safe, a good place to work. Yes, we've done quite a

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lot. Making sure things are structurally safe, the legislation

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is right in Bangladesh. We are trying to Nate Shaw these things are

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done. If, long way, but there's still more to do. -- to make sure.

:06:26.:06:32.

Thanks very much. Japan's trade ministry have nearly doubled the

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cost estimated 40 for cushy minute we are disaster and decommissioning

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the plant damaged by the tsunami in 2011. -- Fukushima nuclear. The cost

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would raise two some billion dollars. Shares jumped on Thursday

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in anticipation that it will receive additional interest loans to cope

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with the cost. Gina Rinehart and a Chinese

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consortium have asked for government approval to buy a cattle empire. The

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announcement follows two years sale growth. The company is the largest

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private land owner, with cattle land the size of South Korea.

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If you live in Singapore and you own an old school mobile phone, like one

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of these, a Nokia or one of these flip open motor roller phones, it is

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time to a grade. Many are still hooked to the 2G network but not for

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much longer. I've been using this model since 2010.

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In April, 2017, all network providers will cease operations of

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2G to ensure better and faster network services. I was able to see

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the sort of negative effects that smart phones have on society, where

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you walk into a restaurant and you see a group of friends and everyone

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is sort of in their individual world, looking down on their phones.

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I text and call. It has a great alarm clock. I think the only thing

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could be GPS. Sometimes I get lost. But usually I look on Google Maps on

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my laptop, draw a map and follow that map.

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A lot of these guys are receiving very low salaries, so it is hard for

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them to pay the $100 or several 100 dollars that it would cost to buy a

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new phone. Are you still holding onto a 2G mobile phone? Once you get

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a smartphone, then you always have to upgrade, you always have to worry

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about the next model or the battery is running out on the screen is

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breaking. I imagine some people will miss

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those ringtones! A quick look at the markets. We are

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seeing them pretty much mixed at the moment. Hang Seng in Hong Kong has

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just opened and we are seeing gains in Australia, as well as the pan.

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But not massive gains. Little bit flat. -- as well as in Japan. Wall

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Street hit another record, following Trump's election if you weeks ago.

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And of course we have the labour numbers as well. That's it for this

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edition of Asia Business The top stories this hour:

:10:10.:10:16.

South Korea's parliament is holding an impeachment vote in a few

:10:17.:10:21.

hours which could see President Park Geun-hye suspended,

:10:22.:10:23.

following allegations of corruption

:10:24.:10:26.

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