15/03/2017 Asia Business Report

I will be back with more of the day's news, including the breaking

news from America. MSNBC have got hold of Donald Trump's tax returns

from the year 2005. Now on BBC News, all the latest

business news live from Singapore. China's message for the world. The

National People's Congress comes to a close. What have we learnt? And

one Southeast Asian city claims the ranks to number one when it comes to

having the best quality of living. Hello, and welcome to Asia Business

Report, the National People's Congress in Beijing has come to a

close. Delegates from across China pledged to implement the use of

technology to strengthen the military. Well, the 10-day session

had kicked off with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang announcing slower growth

this year compared with last year's 6.7% expansion. I spoke with our

correspondent in Beijing and asked for some of the highlights from this

year's National People's Congress. I think the headline news is the

government is targeting lower growth this year than last year. In actual

fact, sentiment in Beijing is relatively up heat on the economy at

the moment so 6.5% growth for this year as a whole -- upbeat. We are

seeing a bit of a recovery in the industrial manufacturing sector

here. So the mood and sentiment is relatively upbeat despite the

lowering of the headline growth target. You say it is upbeat,

nonetheless that lower growth target to 6.5%, it is still the lowest in

more than 25 years, so how might that impact a lot of China's

neighbours which rely on it as an engine of growth? I think china's

neighbours will welcome slower growth, China is going to make

progress on structural reform in tackling some of the imbalances in

its economy. This is the key to sustainable long-term growth in

China and that should be something which its neighbours, with China a

significant export market, should welcome. Slower growth doesn't mean

necessarily a bad thing for the global economy if it means China

will be a more stable footing in the years to come, that will be a

positive. We heard from Premier Li Keqiang at the National People's

Congress essentially reiterating a lot of pledges we have heard before,

the need to tackle large data and enterprises, zombie companies

producing too much coal and steel, the need to tackle pollution. As I

mentioned, we have heard this before and they have proven hard to fulfil.

How effective is the National People's Congress really? I think

they are moving a little bit too late on both the issue of tackling

zombie companies and tackling air-pollution, but last year they

move more aggressively than they have before on both those areas. In

terms of implementation, there is still a lot to be desired. We think

capacity cuts this year will be difficult, because they haven't

really reformed the state-owned sector, which is potentially more

difficult than the cuts in the private sector last year. And we are

also hearing a lot more protectionist language from the new

Trump administration, especially in the US. Were there any clues from

the National People's Congress on how China might deal with trade

tensions with the US? Well, I think in one sense China sees this as an

opportunity for itself to assume some of the global leadership roles

in globalisation, although its own record in terms of opening its own

economy leaves much to be desired. I think that Trump and Xi Jinping are

going to meet next month in the US, which is a positive sign and suggest

those trade tensions might not spill over to the extent of having

significant implications for both the US, Chinese and global economies

in the future. So if they are meeting, it probably suggest there

is room for compromise on some of the issues which divided them. That

is Tom Rafferty speaking to me earlier. It is the news that

investors have been waiting for. The US Federal Reserve is expected to

announce an interest rate increase at the world's largest economy,

gaining momentum. It comes as many await more concrete details about

Donald Trump's economic policies. So what does a rate hike mean for the

average American worker? Our correspondent reports from New York.

An increasingly common sight in America today. Machines making

everything from factory robots to aircraft landing gear. After a

painfully slow recovery, the sights and sounds of economic activity.

Nearly everyone who wants a job in the US has one. It has been getting

better for us since 2008, 2009. That was the worst I have seen in my

working life. I have seen more jobs coming back to the United States.

This shop in Brooklyn they make metal parts, mainly for the aviation

industry. Like many factories across the US, there is lots going on in

room to grow. Were fortunate we have a steady flow of business. Now and

for the foreseeable future, we have a steady flow of business. Activity

that hasn't gone unnoticed by this woman. Fed chair Janet Yellen is

among those making the case that the world's largest economy is strong

enough to withstand higher interest rates, making the prospect of a rate

hike in March a near certainty. The economy is clearly ready for another

rate hike, inflation is moving towards the Fed's inflation target

of 2%. The job market is in very good shape, and financial market

conditions have eased. Back at the tool shop, this man sees the

prospect of a higher rate as a vote of confidence in the economy.

Probably is a good time to raise interest rates, although I don't

want to pay more interest. And a few miles away on what will your Mac

Wall Street, investors are prepared, even looking ahead, wondering about

the pace of future hikes -- on Wall Street. If the Federal Reserve

raises interest rates this will be only the third time it has done so

since the global financial crisis. Almost a decade later, it would send

a signal that the US economy is returning to some kind of normality.

In other business news, Toshiba shares are down by more than 7% in

Tokyo this morning. The Tokyo stock exchange has placed the shares under

supervision for a possible delisting. On Tuesday, Toshiba said

it may sell its majority stake in the US nuclear unit Westinghouse.

The Japanese firm bought Westinghouse in 2006 but it has been

suffering huge cost overruns. Toshiba has been granted permission

to delay reporting its earnings second time, until 11 April, and is

expected to announce a write-down of about $6 billion for the struggling

nuclear business. Now, the list is in the cities with the best quality

of living, and the worst. Vienna in Austria ranked number one in the

world, according to consultancy farm Mercer, Auckland, Sydney, Wellington

and Melbourne remain in the top 20 however in Asia, Singapore ranked

the highest, moving up one place, in fact, since last year, for its

business opportunities as well as it in the structure. It is followed by

several Japanese cities, including Tokyo, Yokohama and Kobe. Hong Kong

moved down one spot but it is still the highest of all its neighbouring

cities, including Taipei, Shanghai and Beijing. I asked a correspondent

from Mercer consulting firm what factors they consider in their

ranking system. There are clear focus is on air pollution. There is

focus on traffic congestion. There is focus on freedom of speech, there

is focus on economic environment, including access to currency

exchange rates. And all of those factors relatively have kind of push

down the Chinese cities to a lower ranking. You have got the likes of

Auckland at number three. It has out ranked Singapore for the

Asia-Pacific region, but if you think about multinationals who you

are aiming this study at, don't you think that Auckland perhaps might be

seen to be too far away to set up a big business, or a regional company?

I think you need to differentiate between quality of living bursars,

you know, what might make sense for a multinational from a regional hub

perspective -- versus. Access to raw materials, access to clients,

availability of different kinds of talent, all might have a bearing on

where you want to set up. Let's take a look at the cities at the bottom.

For this part of the world, Baghdad and Dhaka it near the bottom, what

is it about these cities? Safety and security has a clear bearing, and

clearly Baghdad, Dhaka, and some of the other cities which are ranked

much lower, have clearly been impacted by the safety and security

issue, of a safe environment. Plus, there are additional factors. As I

said, there are 39 different factors. Air pollution, traffic

conditions, economic stability, access to international flights, all

of those have kind of played a part in some of those cities being scored

lower. All right, but in terms of infrastructure, this is the first

year you have put out a list which assesses the best infrastructure,

Singapore tops are but we know that there are many other Asian cities

with equally good infrastructure. What is it about Singapore

specifically? I am very proud to say that Singapore is ranked number one

worldwide in city infrastructure rankings we came out with. In the

way they are measured are around uninterrupted electricity supply,

water availability, integrated public transportation system, and,

you know, traffic conditions, access to international airports all

flights. Singapore clearly scored a much higher ranking in lots of

those. Let's take a quick look at the market before we go, because

there is a lot of caution setting and in the markets. That is why they

are all lower. A lot of investors sidelined ahead of those meetings,

the Fed reserve, the Bank of England and the bank of Japan. That is it

for the show, thank you for