09/03/2017 Asia Business Report


09/03/2017

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

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The trial of Samsung's boss continues today, adding another

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chapter to the scandal that has gripped South Korea. And we'll take

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a sneak peek at how airlines are attracting business travellers to

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splash their cash in the skies. Good morning, Asia. Hello, world.

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I'm Rico Hizon for Asia Business Report, glad you could join us, the

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era parent of Samsung is going to court today in what is considered to

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be South career's trial of the century. He's accused of bribing the

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country's president and ) in return for business favours. Earlier I

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asked Jake Saunders whether the scandal is impacting the bottom

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line. -- close friend. If you look at the stock market, no, everything

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is fabulous there, it is an upward trend, looking at the revenue of

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Samsung Electronics, over the last three years it is quite flat, doing

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about $175 billion. Why is there a disconnect between the stock price,

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which has hit seven record highs over the past months, and revenues

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of Samsung and the scandals there facing? Visa on the fringes of the

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company -- these are. Clearly these have consequences. There have been

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ramifications. At the top of the corporate of Samsung there's the

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corporate strategy office, that used to co-ordinate and plan long-term

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product developments and research and development, that's been

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dissolved, that had a team of around 200 staff, very senior people which

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helped strategise, that unit has disappeared. The problems of Samsung

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and the problems in South Korea's corporate sector, will this have a

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lasting effect going forward? I think we're going to have to see how

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2017 really pans out. At the end of this month we are going to see their

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flagship phone, later in the year perhaps they will try to reboot the

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Note and whether the issue of exploding batteries is resolved, so

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a lot will be riding on this year and a lot of people will be looking

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to see what senior manager management achieves this year. No

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goal, no talks, the EU is saying the UK must leave the single market

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before negotiating a trade deal. Theresa May wants to start trade

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negotiations with the EU while at the same time negotiating the exit.

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But that is not possible. We can't negotiate a trade agreement with a

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country who is still a member of the European Union, and getting out of

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the EU is going to be extremely complicated. So we have no intention

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to delay this. But we cannot negotiate with the UK as long as

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they are members. By the European companies stand to lose an important

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trading partner in the UK if these negotiations don't happen quickly --

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but European companies. Why not move them to the top of the list? People

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are sad to see the UK leaving, now we have to deal with it, nobody has

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any intention to be difficult. But it will be difficult, there are lots

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of things that need to be solved and we have not done this before. But of

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course, it's in everybody's interests to make sure this is a

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friendly and constructive process. The EU is trying to sign a trade

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deal with the US, which has been on the backburner recently, how hopeful

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are you of getting that deal through with Mr Trump empowered? Well, it's

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not going to happen next week. -- in power. I think we have to realise

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it's in the freezer for the moment. The US TR, the trade ministry, has

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not been confirmed yet, that process has still to take some time. So

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there's no one really to talk to. The case for a trade agreement

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between the EU and the US, the two biggest economies of the world,

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facilitating trade, is still very strong and I hope our American

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friends will realise that as well, in what for and when, I can't tell

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you, you will have to wait. What do you make of President Trump's trade

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strategy and trade policies? I don't think he has a coherent policy yet,

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it has been individual things he has pronounced, he will renegotiate

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Nafta, an electoral promise, he has said he will renege on TPP, that was

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also an electoral promise, but we will have to wait and see. Trade has

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been very beneficial for the US and I hope they realise it will be so in

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the future as well. Protectionism is on the rise in the US, what impact

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does that have on Asian economies? When we look at the global rise of

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global protectionism, I don't see that in Asia, Asia will continue to

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engage with each other, other parties and with us to show that

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trade agreements are good for people and the economy and we will continue

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to stand up for free and fair trade. The EU trade chief speaking to our

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very own Karishma Vaswani. The car industry is among those sectors

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facing the biggest threats from rising protectionism and barriers to

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global trade. As the UK threatens a hard exit from the EU that is.

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Toyota's European boss told the BBC the Japanese carmaker is planning

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for all contingencies. We are committed to our operations

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in the UK, but it's like in any business environment, if the

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environment becomes extremely hostile you have to continually re-

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evaluate what you're going to do in that environment. We have got to

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continue in the UK and continue with our operations and now our big focus

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is to improve the efficiency is so we can be prepared for an

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environment which will be maybe different from what we have had. In

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other news making headlines, China has granted preliminary approval for

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38 new Trump trademarks, mainly from hotels, security and they were made

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during the election campaign before he was elected. President Trump

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already owns 70 trademarks in China and he has pledged not to strike new

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foreign business deals while in office. It's an annual battle for

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supremacy in the skies and an international travel show in Berlin

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has shown the world's premium airlines are vying for the attention

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of business travellers, showing the latest in cabin comfort. But while

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they are a lucrative demographic, growth is sluggish. We look at why

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companies are slashing their cash on international flights.

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A tug on the heartstrings for lovers of luxury travel at this year's ITB

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tourism show in Berlin, as a Middle Eastern airline unveils a new

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business class aeroplane seat. It's part of an industry push to bring

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home comforts to the skies. What you notice immediately is very very

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slick technology and slick engineering. This seat area is

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actually pretty flexible and should you wish to you can share food with

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your friends who are just sitting the other side, all members of your

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family of course. And at the touch of a button, this seat goes

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completely flat and turns into a bit. The idea behind that is to

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create more living space around the business class, creating absolute

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privacy and creating a corporate atmosphere if you're travelling with

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colleagues. In these times where there's a focus on costs, our

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businesses happy to pay for this? As a matter of a fact, you're just

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playing the business class fare, you're paying anything extra.

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Corporate travel is big business. German firms spend some 50 billion

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euros a year sending their employees around the world. Now, of course, as

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a worker you want all of the add-ons you can possibly get but it might be

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that your company takes the view that as long as you have a seat that

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can go flat and a television, you'll get a good enough night's sleep to

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be able to work the next day. It's a combination of the needs of the

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traveller that likes to travel in business class of course, but when

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it comes to price and paying for those travels, the corporation is

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the one that dictates. You need to find a balance between luxury and

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safe travel and the cost of travel. Now, travelling for business is all

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very well but what people really want is as much of luxury as they

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can possibly afford when they're travelling for leisure. And I know

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when it comes to me that I want all of the features imaginable, plus, of

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course, when I'm in the air, complete privacy.

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I envy you, Tania! Let's look at Asian stock markets and at the

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moment a mixed bag. In China new figures released this morning

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revealed inflation rising at its fastest pace in nine years, CPI in

:09:45.:09:51.

February growing compared to a year ago and that is pushing down the

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handset and the Shanghai Composite. As for Tokyo, in positive territory

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with the weaker yen against the US dollar dollar. -- Hang Seng. In Wall

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Street, the Dow Jones closing down by 69 points and the NASDAQ gaining

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about a 10th of a percent. Those are the markets, thank you so much for

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

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next. The Chancellor announced an extra ?2

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billion for social care in England, admitting the system

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is clearly under pressure.

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