23/01/2013 World Business Report

Those are the latest headlines from BBC World News. Now for the latest

financial news with Alice and World Hello and welcome to World Business

Report. Inside or out? Prime Minister Cameron looks set to back

a plan for a referendum on UK membership of the European Union.

And what will the world's economists, politicians and other

very important people be talking about as they congregate in Davos

for the annual World Economic British Prime Minister David

Cameron will deliver his long- delayed speech on the European

Union on Wednesday, stepping into a political minefield that could end

up re-shaping Britain's relationship with the UK's largest

trading partner, the EU. Cameron is expected to say which powers he

wants to try to claw back, and to promise some kind of a referendum

on what he calls a "new settlement," if he wins the next

general election. Nigel Cassidy looks at what the business

Britain and voted for Europe in the hope it would boost trade and

employment. Political leaders at the time were proud of the 3

Britain was no longer an economic island. Yet tension from the start

about Russell's directions can no longer be contained. -- Brussels's.

The continent's rule book is being pushed to London. Many people in

business would not want to go. could be a long way from

integrating in the eurozone. I think that would be catastrophic.

And a Euro-sceptic in that extent. Europe would be a block

competitively disadvantaged to the rest of the world. Our prosperity

would go down. The best outcome will be somewhere near free-trade

plus the obvious things we should co-operate on. A heating supplier

company... The alternative of Britain being thrown out of the EU

would be bad news. Business needs to have certainty and

predictability. Without that, you cannot put up the upfront money

required to grow a business. When we handle sales people in Germany,

we have to prepare the business to make future sales. If I do not have

that certainty about the ability for us to export in a certain price

of two Germany, how would not make that investment. Britain buys more

from Europe then it sells to it. It would not make sense for the

European Union to impose new tariff barriers. Britain is paying a fee

for its continued membership. Brussels might be tempted to impose

higher exit charges. The tour to discourage anyone else thinking of

leaving. -- that will be to discourage.

The World E The World Eorum opens its doors in Davos, Switzerland in the

next few hours. 2,500 business leaders and 50 heads of state are

attending. The theme this year is dynamic resilience. The idea that

companies, governments and individuals must find ways to

absorb shock more effectively is not new, but how do we go about it?

A good place to start is economic growth. So this year, world leaders

are giving much more of the stage to entrepreneurs and young thinkers.

Tanya Beckett met some of them to find out what they had to say.

Every year, this small Swiss town plays a host to some people.

remember when Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt were here. This woman

runs a ski shop. Snow sport comes to a standstill for a week. For me,

it is interesting. For business, it is not a good week. She is open-

minded. It is echoed by the fame of the Forum. No single crisis

dominates the talks. -- theme. Leaders are eager to listen to the

concerns of younger players. It is about financial literacy. I bring a

perspective of engaging young people and teaching lessons of --

at an early age. Educating parents and children. Seen through the

vision of a younger generation, the world is a different place. This

woman is an entrepreneur. She brings a strong message. It is

about positive thinking, cautious optimism. This is one of the things

we need all across the world. How can we be more optimistic and have

a brighter outlook? In times of crisis, world leaders have come

here to Davos, over the past 40 years, ready for an open exchange

of ideas. They recognise the world has changed. They need to think

again. They are looking this time to the outer reaches of the

business community for guidance. Joining us from Davos is Wai Ming

Won, Chief Financial Officer at computer maker Lenovo.

What are you hoping to get out of doubles this year? -- Davos. We

want to be part of the global economy and contribute to the

global economy. We are a PC company. We see a pivotal role in improving

the overall wealth and equipment of society. We want to participate

actively to be aware of the issue and contribute. Than us talk about

the story behind your company. It was extraordinary. He began in 1984.

Now you are one of the biggest PC makers in the world. What has been

the main drive behind your growth? We started off as a small company.

We had a few engineers in China. They had big ambitions, trying to

get technology products. Our biggest change after we achieved

world number one status was when we acquired the PC business. The

driver for us was to continue to be successful and try to a product

this is common to benefit the world and our shareholders and investors.

What are the biggest challenges facing your company at the moment?

There are criticisms you are too reliant on China as a major market.

You cannot have a big enough presence in the US. Also, as a

large PC maker, are we entering a post PC era? How we all going to

move towards smart technology? Certainly. We started off being the

leader in China. It in terms of PCs, China is the largest market. It is

not fair to say that the company relies only on China. If you look

at the top three or five countries, we are number one in three or four

of these countries, like Japan. We are making tremendous progress in

other economies, like Brazil and Germany. PC is our core product. We

do not only rely on PC. We are moving into the post PC period. In

terms of engaging ourselves in terms of smart devices, we look at

the smartphone. It has had success in China.

Some other business stories: Google has reported a rise in profits with

a jump in revenues, as it ploughed more money into advertising,

research and development. Net profit for the final three months

of last year was $2.89 billion, up 7% on a year earlier. Revenues were

up by more than a third at $14.4 billion. Google shares rose by

almost 5% in after-hours trading, following the better-than-expected

Casey Kearney has been jailed for seven years. -- a CEO. He admitted