21/03/2016 World Business Report

As Obama touches down in a rather rainy Cuba for a historic visit,

we look at how businesses there are beginning to take advantage

Plus new technology aiding the fight against corruption.

We take a look at advances in India that seem to be having a big impact.

Welcome to World Business Report. I'm Sally Bundock.

Also in the programme, what are "click farms"?

Here is a clue - the recent denial from

Cambodia's Prime Minister that he bought millions of Facebook likes.

President Obama has arrived in Havana, the first US presidential

Mr Obama will meet President Raul Castro later today

and then speak at an event focused on entrepreneurships.

US-Cuba relations were frozen in the early 1960s, when the US

broke off diplomatic relations and imposed a trade embargo after

It's estimated the trade embargo has cost the Cuban

Obama normalised diplomatic and economic ties in December 2014,

but the embargo cannot be fully lifted without approval from the

Travel restrictions have also been eased by President Obama.

Yesterday US hotel company Starwood became the first American firm to

agree a deal with the Cuban authorities since the revolution

of 1959, agreeing to spend millions renovating hotels in Havana.

Many in Cuba now hope the country is on the verge of a new

economic era, and it's estimated that between 20-30% of the workforce

is now privately employed in the self-described communist state.

Throughout the day, we'll look at some of those people

running businesses in Cuba, starting with art design, a career that's

We wanted to do something different. We also wanted to do something that

is very connected to design. Because design is very important, and here

in Cuba it is not that common. It is a sharp gallery, design studio and

workshop. This is really powerful, and very interesting. But it doesn't

represent me any more. So I want to make it closer to me. Just to chill

out all that propaganda. It is not criticising, it is not making

history wrong or whatever, it is just saying what we want to say

right now. The challenges of making a business in Cuba are very

connected to how people face that new reality. It is very hard also

because there is no tradition, we have no tools for that. I have to be

very concerned about quality, about competitiveness, about efficiency. I

feel like an astronaut. I feel like I'm discovering a whole new world. I

feel like if people around me feel the same, we can actually do

something really amazing. And I don't know, maybe this doesn't work.

Maybe next year we're out of business. But right now, it feels

like it is working. Let's hope she is not out of business next year. A

lot more about Uber online. -- Cuba. When is a like on Facebook a real

like - and when has it been bought? That's a question being asked

on social media in Asia this week, with the Prime Minister

of Cambodia, Hun Sen, forced to That's because the leader of the

relatively small Asian nation has That's in a country with an internet

penetration rate of just 9%. That compares to the UK,

for example, where Prime Minister David Cameron's Facebook page has

a mere one million likes, even though the UK has a hefty

internet penetration rate of 91%. Thousands of likes can be purchased

for just a few dollars, and it's becoming a growing issue

across social media platforms. It is a big deal for advertisers, as

you can imagine. Sharanjit Leyl joins me now from

Singapore with more on this. This is a fascinating story. It is

fascinating. I will try to tell you as much as a node in one minute. It

is extraordinary when you look at those stats. It is something

everybody knows exists. Several studies have been done looking at

the phenomenon of buying the likes, and social media has been criticised

for this practice even though many of these platforms have issued

statements saying they discourage the practice by regularly purging

fake accounts. But the business upshot is if you are a brand,

celebrity or political leader, buying social media popularity will

likely come back and white you. For instance, it was widely reported

when Instagram purged accounts of fake followers, celebrities like

Justin Bieber lost 3.5 million followers on that platform. As you

showed, it has not done the Cambodian leader any favours, as he

has been caught out using this practice. One analyst said there is

a more with jubilant -- all legitimate way to drum up interest

by creating engagement with users that go beyond the like button, and

to do well, companies should initiate the right engagement at the

right time and create timely posts that relate to trends. In this way,

the algorithms from Facebook and other social media will be able to

recognise it as legitimate interest and increase that person's file. So

that is a bit of a trick. Thank you for those topped tips. See using. --

top tips, see using. In many countries,

corruption is an unwelcome part However, bribes and kickbacks don't

just have an impact on those who have to pay them,

they also have a huge influence It's estimated that corruption costs

the global economy All this week, we're looking at how

governments are trying to tackle the problem, starting in India, where

Shilpa Kannan reports from Delhi. A Delhi traffic policeman

filmed taking money. Shocking as it may be,

bribery like this, usually small amounts of money taken

by officials for doing something that should be free, has long been a

way of life in many Indian cities. Now the police force is trying to

clean up the system, Using basic technology,

people can use the messaging service WhatsApp to submit evidence

of alleged wrongdoings, and they Compared to the amount invested to

make the service more accessible to the public,

I feel the economic impact on the Cracking down

on often petty corruption Another big frustration many Indians

have come across is that getting even official things like passports

can only be done if you know the So, might technology be helping

to clean up that as well? India issues over 12 million

passports each year. It used to be an endless wait to get

one, but now the process can take That is partly down to the

technology automating the system, But the government department

responsible says computers have stripped away the opportunities

for under-the-table bribes. It makes

the bureaucracy faceless, and also Once you make

the operation cashless, From fingerprint-scanning to

keeping digital records, it may seem basic, but is

technology making a difference? With India increasingly looking

for outside investment, often from countries with very

strict anti-bribery and corruption laws, making doing business here

more transparent can only help. And in the war on corruption,

technology is looking Australian stocks have fallen after

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull recalled parliament and brought

the Budget forward, setting Australia will hold

an early election if the country's Senate fails to pass laws aimed

at curbing union corruption. The government has introduced bills

to re-establish a construction industry watchdog to

the Senate five times. A UK exit from the EU would cause

a "serious economic shock", potentially costing the country ?100

billion and nearly one million jobs. That's the verdict

of a report commissioned by the CBI, a lobby group which represents

major business in the UK. The report was rubbished by the

Vote Leave campaign group, who say employment and the economy would

continue to grow after an exit. That is all for me for now. We will

cover other business stories shortly when we cover the papers. See you

shortly. With the increase

in laser attacks on helicopters and aeroplanes, the authorities here

in the UK have been thinking up new ways to protect pilots -

and catch those responsible. According to the

Civil Aviation Authority,