28/03/2017 Asia Business Report

He then fatally stabbed a police officer before being shot dead.

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

President Trump is set to sign an executive order repealing

environmental regulation. What could this mean for business? And American

Airlines is looking to spread its wings and expand its roots to

mainland China. Good morning, Asia. Hello, world. Welcome to Asia

Business Report. Thank you for joining us. I'm Rico Hizon. It's a

Tuesday. US markets ending flights overnight after some initial selling

in reaction to President Trump's failed effort to overturn Obamacare.

President Trump is expected to sign an executive order today that would

dismantle environmental regulations put in place by his predecessor. His

controversial move highlights achievements between the Donald

Trump administration and climate change. Michelle Fleury was asked

what we know about this executive order. Donald Trump is trying to

make good on a promise, and that is to undo Barack Obama's climate push.

He wants to focus on something called the Clean Power Plan which

restricted greenhouse gas emissions from coal fired power plants. That

is where it a significant amount of emissions come from in America. This

rule, to give context, was targeted by Republicans, and they called it a

jocular and overreach by Barack Obama. -- job killer. We should not

be surprised it is on the chopping block. There is talk on a moratorium

on coal mining on Federal land. That is expected to be reversed. You may

recall that the president wanted to restore jobs in the coal industry

during his campaign. There is doubt over whether this would achieve

that. What about cultural implications over the new executive

order? If you are talking about the coal power plant for, example, a way

that America was going to meet the climate agreement, an agreement on

trying to address climate change. What this executive order does,

though we are not sure whether it will mention the Paris climate

agreement, is it signals that fighting by no change is not a

priority for this administration. That certainly America first applies

more to the economy than it does to climate change. Michelle Fleury in

New York. Future trade relations between China and the Donald Trump

administration may be uncertain, but it is not stopping some carriers

from charting new territory on the mainland. American Airlines could

take a stake in the state-owned airline. Earlier, I took them I

talked to break from Flight Global and asked him why they were

interested in China. -- Greg. This follows a pattern we have seen

recently. United airlines is interested in Beijing. There was a

small stake taken in China Eastern in Shanghai. They want to improve

their China access. They will take a small stake similar to what Delta

did with China Eastern. Could be see US carriers increasing holdings and

shareholdings in Chinese mainlands? That is contingent to open skies

agreements forming between the United States and China. If you see

that, you can see these carriers working more closely together. You

might see some code-sharing. If this deal goes through between China

Airlines and American Airlines. Unless they can have a joint

venture, they will not be able to talk about price scheduling and

other key things. If you see an increase in stakes in China, could

this impact the likes of Cathay Pacific, Chinese carriers having a

stake in the Hong Kong carrier? Hong Kong Airlines has a large

codesharing deal with Cathay. If you see American Airlines trying to

shift some of that traffic to China Southern and a stronger relationship

between China Southern and Cathay, major competitors, I cannot imagine

Cathay will be happy with that. In other news, Korean technology giant

Samsung has revealed plans to sell refurbished versions of the Galaxy

Note smartphones pulled from the markets due to battery issues. They

took a huge hit over the trouble from the Note seven. Samsung said it

will choose which markets to sell them after discussions with red Tory

authorities and airlines. -- regulatory. Brazil's administration

has ordered three more meatpacking and processing facilities to close,

bringing it up to six, after risks of contamination. Import suspensions

were lifted recently, though they are still in place in Europe and

Hong Kong. Well, you have to have an iron stomach to succeed in the

restaurant business in the Philippines. Robert runs the largest

company in the country and is branching out to other countries in

the world. As part of Two Minutes With, I spoke to their CEO to ask

them how they stay ahead of the competition? With many competitors

bringing up walls and other areas, a lot of inflow of remittances which

we use increases the market. People who could not afford our food before

can now. That is why we have expanded aggressively. But, Robert,

it is extremely competitive in the Philippines. Every week there is a

new franchise to be how do you stay ahead of the curve? We have 70 plus

years of experience and have very good brands under our portfolio.

With that leverage you get all the great spots in malls and other

areas. When you have been there proving yourself time and time

again, it will also be a repeat of other loyal customers. They will all

come back and enjoy our great food. You have plans, basically, of

increasing your international portfolio to 200 stores by 2020. How

will you achieve this? We showcase and bring our brands all over the

world. The difference with the Maxis Group is we have the portfolio,

pizza, chicken, pancakes, and Japanese food. We have a lot of

variety to bring towards the international market. Robert, you

are a successful businessman in the Philippines. What implications of

the policies of Rodrigo Duterte have on this? The business fundamentals

are intact We are looking at a 6.5- 7.5 projected growth for 2017. High

consumer spending is still there. We are in the right area and I think

this will help us grow our business more. And that is our two minutes

with Robert, CEO of Maxis Group in the Philippines. In the future, many

jobs carried out by humans will instead be looked after by robots.

In San Francisco, a glimpse of the future is on show, where a robot

barista is turning heads. Let us take a look. ELECTRONIC MUSIC.

Before we go, a quick look at the markets. Asian stocks are positive

territory in early Tuesday training despite the Dow Jones industrial

average falling for the eighth consecutive session. The Tokyo

market opening higher. Exporters in positive territory with the yen

turning down against the dollar. The All Ords Index also higher by 43

points. That is it for Asia Business Report. . I am Rico Hizon. See you

in the next hour. Coastal areas in north-eastern

Australia are being battered by strong winds and heavy rain,

as tropical Cyclone Debbie reaches