13/12/2016 Asia Business Report

A further 24-hour strike is set for Friday.

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

A par mile producer owned by Singapore's state investment fund is

fighting allegations that it is fanning the flames of the Indonesian

Hades -- palm oil. And Indonesian smart phone makers want to capture a

diverse and fast-growing market. -- Hades.

Good morning, Asia and hello, world. It's Tuesday and guide you could

join us for this edition of Asia Business Report, I'm Rico Hizon. We

start with the palm oil industry where US based NGO group Mighty have

accused groups of causing a haze that is causing health problems to

the nation. Olam's CEOs spoke with reporters

just before Mighty's report was released and he said the company is

dealing with cleaning up the supply chain but that it would take some

time -- CEO. We are interested in compliance being immediate so if

there's a supplier that isn't able to conform to the code and the

policies and principles of the palm oil policy, we went be doing

business with them. We have not completed the verification of that

supply chain. Therefore we will not know until verification is complete

that what they are complaining of is actually happening in the field and

on the ground. Temask issued a statement overnight saying it fully

supports a no burning policy and would urge palm oil companies and

other plantation owners to do the same. The fund owns 52% of the

commodities trader Olam and Temask also said it doesn't get involved in

how companies manage their business operations. Earlier I spoke with the

Chief Executive of the NGO Mighty, the firm making these allegations

and I asked him for his reaction to the Temask statement. It's

disappointing to hear because Temask represents the Singapore people.

They have been financing Olam, a company not keeping up with its

competitors. Every trader in the palm oil industry, including

Singapore based rivals, have adopted very strong no deforestation

policies. Olam was the one trader standing out who still have this

blackbox approach, they would buy palm oil from anybody, no questions

asked without revealing the identity of the suppliers. Why do you think

Temask is responsible? They are the owner. If I own a house I'm

responsible for it. The same goes for them. It's unfortunate to hear

because in our meetings with them recently they started to take

responsibility for what Olam is doing, I hope behind the scenes

they've had a positive impact. We are gratified that since we released

the report in the last 12 hours, Olam finally reveal the identity of

its suppliers but that shows there's lots of work to do because several

suppliers like First Resources have been involved in deforestation, they

have to clean them up otherwise Temask and the people of Singapore

could contribute to the haze when it comes back. The Chief Executive of

the NGO group Mighty. China is launching a complaint at the WTO

against the US and the EU. The complaint says that Washington and

Brussels do not accurately calculate whether Chinese goods are being sold

the low-cost. Countries and do this to determine how much to charge in

duties to protect industries from cheap products flooding into their

market -- the low-cost. Markets have surged to 18 month highs after OPEC

members and other crude oil producers instilled production cuts.

-- the low cost. Are they doing it to trim the output or are they

blowing hot air? Here's the market response. There has been an

effective stage management led by the Saudis to try to convince the

world that they are serious, that they are going to cut back and the

markets have responded to that in a very positive way. The cuts will be

taking effect on the first of January but from now until then they

can just boost production. That's already happening, the Russians have

done it, the Saudis have done it, we are before January so anything goes.

The real test will be the compliance post January and the view is that it

will not be 100% compliance. Why not? Behavioural factors in OPEC, it

is a cartel. It's very hard to get everyone to toe the line, there will

always be some degree of leakage, you can't say cheating, but leakage.

The more players, the harder it will be to enforce an agreement but

initially there should be compliance, when you get to the

second and third months looking at listings and vessel fixtures, you

could say there's a bit of leakage. What about the production of shale

oil in the US, could this be a so-called Trump card? Definitely,

his slogan was too make America great again and one way you can do

that is you have stronger energy prices, resource development and

Donald Trump would love to engage with the cartel and make a deal.

John Driscoll. India is one of the fastest-growing mobile phone

networks in the world but it is a country with 20 languages and

hundreds more dialects, so how can smart phone makers engage in such a

diverse market? We went to find out. For smart phone makers and

developers, vying to get an even bigger share of the market, India

poses a problem. How do you reach millions who can't afford high end

smart phones and don't understand English? Well, mobile phones like

this that run on a new operating system could change the smart phone

game here. This is a homegrown operating system developed right

here in Mumbai. It's not exactly built from scratch, but based on the

Android platform, the operating system most popular in India at the

moment. By tweaking its platform to the unique demands and culture of

India, it is offering something Android does not. The system

functions in 12 regional languages that 90% of the population speak. It

has other unique features. Free messaging between users and

translation with one swipe. It also has its own App Store, which already

has 35,000 apps and doesn't need an e-mail, ID or credit card to

activate, a major obstacle in India. It has translated versions of

popular apps and has made WhatsApp and other popular apps available in

local languages. It's only been in the market for 18 months and during

that short period it has surpassed the likes of IOS and windows in

terms of market share in India. 6 million smart phones are powered by

Indis today and the founders are confident of striking deals with

other top brands to insure its product is installed on 100 million

devices by 2019. But surely this is a market that brands like Apple and

Android will try to make inroads in eventually. Sitting in a mountain

you can't necessarily use this. It requires an understanding of what is

happening on the ground. We have seen different initiatives from

Samsung. They have tried in the Indian market. But they have had

limited success. It's estimated in the future the majority of

first-time smart phone users will be regional language features. With

smart phone prices tumbling to as low as $30, consumers may not buy a

device based on price, how it works or what it does, but rather in a

language they understand. All eyes on the US Federal Reserve

as it begins its two-day meeting later today. Janet Yellen has hinted

an interest rate hike is on the cards as the central bank tries to

get ahead of inflation creaking into the US economy. It will be the first

increase in a year. -- creeping. This development is basically

contributing to the lacklustre day for Asian stock markets. The Nikkei

225 is down by 20 points, the Hang Seng lullaby 25 and the ordinary is

just slightly higher as investors moved to the sidelines to see if the

Fed will raise the cost of borrowing or not. -- lower by. Thanks for

investing your time with us. I'm Rico Hizon. Sport Today is next.