:00:00. > :00:00.constructions lifted on them on January one. -- claiming benefits.
:00:00. > :00:23.Time for Asia Business Report. Under pressure. Qantas executives
:00:24. > :00:27.face questions from unions over proposed job cuts. How one of the
:00:28. > :00:41.world's most motorcycle brands as muscling in on the Asian market. We
:00:42. > :00:45.start off in Australia with its national flight carrier in financial
:00:46. > :00:49.dire straits. Qantas is set to meet unions today as it moves to slash
:00:50. > :00:55.1000 jobs and cut cost Essendon. Job reductions were announced as they
:00:56. > :01:00.issued a surprise profit warning for six months to December. Shares
:01:01. > :01:06.remain weak and its credit rating was slashed by ratings agency
:01:07. > :01:10.Standard Poor's. They think the big thing on the
:01:11. > :01:15.uneven playing field is that they have been pushing the government to
:01:16. > :01:19.lift restrictions. They have a lot peculiar to them that allows them to
:01:20. > :01:23.have only 49% foreign ownership. Virgin Australia doesn't have this.
:01:24. > :01:29.It as foreign capital. They need to be changes. It is an old carrier
:01:30. > :01:32.with legacy cost Essendon. It needs to bring them down. Do you think the
:01:33. > :01:37.government will accept foreign ownership for Qantas? It seems the
:01:38. > :01:41.government is indicating that are opening to dropping these rules. It
:01:42. > :01:46.will take time. It is not like they will be able to access the money as
:01:47. > :01:49.soon as possible. And they have already basically stepped in, and
:01:50. > :01:56.Brett is said and what pumping new investment into Qantas editors
:01:57. > :02:01.lifted. -- Emirates said. Yes, if the cap is lifted, we don't know.
:02:02. > :02:09.What is the future for Qantas right now? There is competition from
:02:10. > :02:13.Virgin Australia. As they go through these painful times, it is going to
:02:14. > :02:16.get better later on. In the short term they are hurting. They are
:02:17. > :02:21.saying that the yields of airfares are down. Virgin's of growing. It is
:02:22. > :02:25.interesting. I think what this is going to have to abandon the idea
:02:26. > :02:28.that they control two thirds of the Australian market and neither verge
:02:29. > :02:34.of the last third. Soon the need to be an mean organisation for further
:02:35. > :02:38.cuts down the road. It is probably possible. There will be job cuts,
:02:39. > :02:45.restructuring, which will lead to more pain and be unpopular but is
:02:46. > :02:52.what they need to do to survive. Tony Abbott announces plans for a US
:02:53. > :02:59.fund to help create jobs in the states affected by the closure of
:03:00. > :03:07.local manufacturing facilities in 2017. Victorian and South last and
:03:08. > :03:12.are expected to contribute. -- Victoria and South Australia. The
:03:13. > :03:19.trade deficit in Japan has expanded from one year ago and soaring power
:03:20. > :03:23.bills caused by it Fukushima crisis have contributed. A deficit last
:03:24. > :03:29.month. It is a 17th straight month of deficit. Exports rising 18% off
:03:30. > :03:35.the back of strong shipments but imports soared 21% with hefty bills
:03:36. > :03:40.for oil and gas purchases. The Central Bank is expected to increase
:03:41. > :03:45.interest rates following a sharp rise in inflation. Surging vegetable
:03:46. > :03:48.prices push India's man and inflation to a 14 month high in
:03:49. > :03:53.November, reinforcing expectations and will raise the cost of borrowing
:03:54. > :03:57.despite India's stalling growth. Will they or won't they question on
:03:58. > :04:02.the heads of the US Central Bank, will be announced are winding down
:04:03. > :04:05.of quantitative easing? They have in buying $85 billion in bonds every
:04:06. > :04:12.month to keep down the long-term borrowing cost us in. The flood of
:04:13. > :04:15.cheap mud in from America plus a Central Bank was meant to lower
:04:16. > :04:21.borrowing costs and boost the US economy. Is the job done? In the
:04:22. > :04:31.junior as in much of America, there is a sense of optimism. -- in
:04:32. > :04:36.Virginia. Here, they have another reason to feel good. The inventories
:04:37. > :04:42.is running low. It is great. Sales are up. People like our product.
:04:43. > :04:47.Divided people like the product then we will keep selling it and we will
:04:48. > :04:52.keep hiring people to make it. This week he took on another employee and
:04:53. > :04:57.plans to add more in January. Hiring its businesses like this one has
:04:58. > :05:01.helped push down the nation's unemployment rate to 7%. Is it time
:05:02. > :05:06.for America's Central Bank to start turning off the stimulus taps? One
:05:07. > :05:11.reason it may hold fires that the economy is still not back normal.
:05:12. > :05:17.The economy is on the Synod back to where anybody would want it. We have
:05:18. > :05:21.7% unemployment and we have a very low labour force participation. The
:05:22. > :05:28.reason that unemployment has come back as well as it has is very
:05:29. > :05:34.heavily because of the people dropping out of the labour force.
:05:35. > :05:38.Economic challenge is not new. Past and present chair of the Federal
:05:39. > :05:45.Reserve are here to mark the 100th anniversary. Those inside this
:05:46. > :05:50.balding, the American Central Bank had indicated they are moving
:05:51. > :05:54.towards building down their stimulus measures. Whether or not the process
:05:55. > :05:58.begins at this Wednesday, it will fall into the next federal
:05:59. > :06:05.chairman, Janet Yellen to finish the job.
:06:06. > :06:16.What have people been searching for on the Internet this year. Google
:06:17. > :06:17.releases results. 'Gangnam Style' was globally the most popular search
:06:18. > :06:38.term and 2012. Psy was hugely popular in South
:06:39. > :06:45.Korea and Thailand and North Korea. This is an indication that Psy is
:06:46. > :06:51.here to stay. It seems like in India and Thailand, the trend seems to be
:06:52. > :06:57.more driven to the domestic market. Yes, in India Bollywood and cricket
:06:58. > :07:04.squad really high. In Thailand it is all but pop songs. It goes to show
:07:05. > :07:09.what the cultural unifies. In India enters about movies and hard it is
:07:10. > :07:16.about comedy and song. What were some of the unexpected trend from
:07:17. > :07:27.this year? We have seen a lot of natural disasters. There was Hayes
:07:28. > :07:34.in Singapore, tycoons in Japan. -- haze. People turn to the Internet as
:07:35. > :07:37.a first responder for information at the crisis at hand. In the
:07:38. > :07:46.Philippines, you will remember that there was 80 boxer who had his fight
:07:47. > :07:51.after the typhoon. Leyte was the strongest hit by the typhoon and had
:07:52. > :07:54.big search results for his match. People were turning to find out
:07:55. > :08:02.information about their favourite boxer, their hometown hero. Tired of
:08:03. > :08:05.traffic and high fuel prices, for many people this is the reason they
:08:06. > :08:17.opt to own a motorcycle instead of a car. China, and India are big for
:08:18. > :08:22.motorcycles. Motorcycles are everywhere in Asia. They are usually
:08:23. > :08:27.Japanese, Korean, or Chinese brands. Typically, they are cheap and small.
:08:28. > :08:35.Now, another name wants to muscle in on the market. Harley-Davidson. It
:08:36. > :08:37.is not a bikie would we through traffic on and is traditionally
:08:38. > :08:44.focused on its home market in the US. It has been expanding. The
:08:45. > :08:49.iconic brand now is passed 40% of its sales coming from international
:08:50. > :08:53.markets next year. Billed is the great-grandson of the founder of the
:08:54. > :09:00.company. Uses global recession changed strategy. The great thing
:09:01. > :09:05.about being global as it allows us the opportunity to be flexible. We
:09:06. > :09:11.know that the world economy is not always going to be a consistent
:09:12. > :09:16.pinnacle. There are going to be ups and downs. Hopefully Harley-Davidson
:09:17. > :09:18.can lean on the upwards side of that and continue to grow.
:09:19. > :09:22.Harley-Davidson has more customers in its hometown of Milwaukee than it
:09:23. > :09:30.does in all of China. Why is that the Tesco, Milwaukee is the
:09:31. > :09:42.birthplace. -- why is that the case was ? We have a strategy to grow the
:09:43. > :09:48.brand in China. We are tracking through that strategy. Chinese
:09:49. > :09:53.authorities have put restrictions on two wheeled vehicles and quite a few
:09:54. > :09:58.of their cities. Is it a concern? Not really. We have faced this
:09:59. > :10:03.elsewhere. Japan is a good example. We used to not be able to ride two
:10:04. > :10:06.wheeled heavyweight motorcycles in any of their freeways or interstate
:10:07. > :10:11.systems. Now you can because of our government affairs people waiting in
:10:12. > :10:17.and developing policies along with the Japanese government to allow
:10:18. > :10:24.this. Harley-Davidson has had a famous writers like Elvis Risley,
:10:25. > :10:34.Ireland Schwarzenegger, and even a Pope. -- Arnold.
:10:35. > :10:41.Here is a quick look at the market. Asian share prices are moving
:10:42. > :10:44.higher. On Wednesday investors are waiting to hear whether the bank
:10:45. > :10:55.will again winding down the stimulus campaign, and major driver.
:10:56. > :11:15.Thank you for your time. Goodbye for now.
:11:16. > :11:22.Welcome to BBC News. Let's have a look at the headlines. British
:11:23. > :11:27.government Minister says man crew died in detention in Syria was
:11:28. > :11:28.murdered by the Syrian regime. In Italy, secretly