:00:00. > :00:11.Now on BBC News, all the latest business news live from Singapore.
:00:12. > :00:18.China calling. Apple strikes a deal with the world's biggest phone
:00:19. > :00:23.carrier, China Mobile. Women in Japan. How the Prime
:00:24. > :00:28.Minister is looking to them to turn around the economy.
:00:29. > :00:39.Welcome to Asia Business Report. We start with Apple, which has
:00:40. > :00:42.announced a multi-year deal with China Mobile to sell iPhones on the
:00:43. > :00:52.mainland through the world's largest wireless network. China Mobile is
:00:53. > :01:05.also the biggest mobile firm in the country. Two other companies have
:01:06. > :01:08.struck a deal with Apple. Apple says its new models will be available at
:01:09. > :01:10.China Mobile stores, as well as Apple retail stores, across the
:01:11. > :01:11.mainland starting January 17. Customers can register for the
:01:12. > :01:24.phones from Christmas Day. It's a very big deal in the context
:01:25. > :01:32.of the world's largest mobile phone company, accounting for about 11% of
:01:33. > :01:35.the global mobile phone customers. Clearly the biggest partnership
:01:36. > :01:38.announcement that Apple has made in years. But even more importantly,
:01:39. > :01:41.it's a big announcement for China Mobile. It hasn't been seeing good
:01:42. > :01:54.results in the last quarter and its profits have been going down. It is
:01:55. > :01:56.under tremendous pressure from social media applications, which
:01:57. > :02:01.tend to bypass the network currently. This is a great
:02:02. > :02:04.opportunity to grow their revenues. A great opportunity for both but we
:02:05. > :02:11.know Apple handsets are amongst the priciest. Will Chinese consumers be
:02:12. > :02:15.swayed by price? Especially as Chinese made counterparts have
:02:16. > :02:18.gotten cheaper. There is tremendous demand for Apple products and there
:02:19. > :02:21.are many people wanting the products. The average mobile revenue
:02:22. > :02:29.per user on a China Mobile network is maybe about $11-$12 US per month.
:02:30. > :02:34.Clearly, this is beyond the affordability of many users. Apple
:02:35. > :02:45.has to figure this out. How will they make the most of this?
:02:46. > :02:47.It's for them to partner with China Mobile, to create the right
:02:48. > :02:50.strategy, provide the right products, to be able to exploit this
:02:51. > :02:53.huge opportunity of 750 million customers. Apple has acknowledged
:02:54. > :02:56.that China will start to the replace North America as their most
:02:57. > :02:58.important source of revenue, the largest source of revenue.
:02:59. > :03:07.Strategically, what more can they do to capitalise on markets like China?
:03:08. > :03:13.IPhone 5C is not the answer in itself. It will need more products.
:03:14. > :03:26.Apple has done very well at the top end of the market. As the mobile
:03:27. > :03:29.internet market expands to the 6.8 billion customers around the world,
:03:30. > :03:32.clearly it needs more at the lower end of the spectrum. Companies like
:03:33. > :03:35.Samsung and Microsoft have done well to position themselves in that space
:03:36. > :03:38.and are benefiting. Apple needs to do more in that area.
:03:39. > :03:45.For more on Apple and China Mobile, and other headlines, you can go to
:03:46. > :03:48.our website. The Japanese economy has seen quite
:03:49. > :04:00.a transformation, as the new Prime Minister and his economic policies
:04:01. > :04:02.appeared to be working. The reforms include plans to bring more women
:04:03. > :04:06.into the workforce. The prime minister wants to increase women in
:04:07. > :04:12.leadership positions by more than 30% by 2020. To help achieve that,
:04:13. > :04:15.he has set a target of at least one woman executive per company and the
:04:16. > :04:21.government has offered tax incentives to companies that
:04:22. > :04:23.encourage mothers to return to work. According to an influential
:04:24. > :04:32.entrepreneur, it makes sense to invest in companies run by women.
:04:33. > :04:38.The venture capitalist advises the Japanese prime minister and he spoke
:04:39. > :04:41.to our chief business correspondent. I am pleased to be joined by one of
:04:42. > :04:47.Japan's best known entrepreneurs. Good to talk to you. Let me first
:04:48. > :04:50.ask you. How hard is it for women in Japan to break through that bamboo
:04:51. > :04:53.ceiling, whatever you want to call it, glass ceiling? It's still
:04:54. > :04:56.relatively tough but in the last few years it has gotten better. There
:04:57. > :04:57.are more opportunities but it is still difficult. Is Abenomics going
:04:58. > :05:08.to make a difference? I think the Prime Minister makes a
:05:09. > :05:23.point of mentioning women almost every day. There used to be a joke
:05:24. > :05:27.that he mentioned women once or twice in his tenure but now he does
:05:28. > :05:30.so once a day. What's driving the change? It just makes practical
:05:31. > :05:38.sense. There are more women than men in Japan. They go to school and are
:05:39. > :05:41.educated for longer in Japan. They have a higher tendency to go
:05:42. > :05:45.overseas, so they have a global perspective. Entrepreneurs are
:05:46. > :05:53.extremely rare in Japan. Female entrepreneurs are even rarer. Why is
:05:54. > :05:56.that? At the end of the day, in general, entrepreneurism in Japan is
:05:57. > :06:02.tough because of the risk taking and the perceived nature of what failure
:06:03. > :06:10.means in this country. I think that people are getting around that. The
:06:11. > :06:13.women have yet another cliff in that their involvement in management,
:06:14. > :06:21.getting up to the upper ends of corporation, and entrepreneurism is
:06:22. > :06:31.even more difficult. Finally, we're seeing some growth. What's the
:06:32. > :06:38.biggest difference between the way a man works and the way a woman works
:06:39. > :06:40.in your experience? At the end of the day, the biggest difference I
:06:41. > :06:44.see among successful entrepreneurs is the ability to communicate and to
:06:45. > :06:47.be able to convince and work with people and to form teams. The
:06:48. > :06:51.natural ability of women in general but women in Japan who tend to go
:06:52. > :06:53.overseas have a better ability to communicate not just with the
:06:54. > :07:03.Japanese by people from other countries. -- but. Thanks. That was
:07:04. > :07:06.William, a prominent Japanese entrepreneur. Sharing his insights
:07:07. > :07:10.into how women fare in what is perceived to be a man's world in
:07:11. > :07:13.Japan. A new monorail is expected to be
:07:14. > :07:21.launched in Mumbai soon. It's part of a plan to revamp the city's
:07:22. > :07:24.struggling transport infrastructure. Overcrowded trains, buses and long
:07:25. > :07:26.traffic jams plague every city but can the monorail help solve the
:07:27. > :07:31.problems of commuters? A brand-new ride for the people of
:07:32. > :07:43.Mumbai. This monorail train is on a test run. The first line is expected
:07:44. > :07:51.to open soon. It's an elevated 8.8 kilometres stretch connecting two
:07:52. > :07:55.eastern suburbs of the city. This is much better than being stuck in a
:07:56. > :08:07.traffic jam on the road or being in one of the hot and crowded train
:08:08. > :08:12.compartments. It's air-conditioned, gives you a great view of the city
:08:13. > :08:15.but it is only a tiny part of the grand plan to give Mumbai a makeover
:08:16. > :08:17.or, as one politician called it, to transform it into Shanghai.
:08:18. > :08:20.Authorities hope people will use these trains instead of buses and
:08:21. > :08:23.that this system will complement the railway network, which is the main
:08:24. > :08:27.mode of transport in Mumbai at present. Over seven million people
:08:28. > :08:30.use these trains every year. That is way more than they are meant to
:08:31. > :08:38.carry, which means it's usually an unpleasant journey. It starts from
:08:39. > :08:41.the morning when you leave your place. You are really motivated but,
:08:42. > :08:44.once you travel in the local train for 45 minutes, you are completely
:08:45. > :08:49.gone, no energy left. It's a big headache. That means many more
:08:50. > :08:54.people choose to use their own cars to commute, adding to congestion.
:08:55. > :08:59.More flyovers and high-speed freeways have been built over the
:09:00. > :09:02.past few years. But, without expanding the bus network in the
:09:03. > :09:16.city, these could encourage people to buy more cars. Mass transport
:09:17. > :09:20.systems like the metro and monorail are being constructed but they're
:09:21. > :09:23.much delayed. The monorail was supposed to start in 2011 and the
:09:24. > :09:26.metro, still not complete, was to be launched even earlier, in 2010.
:09:27. > :09:30.Authorities explain why it has taken so much time. First we had to find
:09:31. > :09:41.out how many people were getting affected because of these projects.
:09:42. > :09:46.It's not necessarily that the people own the land. They encroach on this
:09:47. > :09:48.land and you can't throw them out. This monorail will undoubtedly
:09:49. > :09:55.attract much attention when it begins its journey. But it will only
:09:56. > :09:58.really start to make a big difference when all the pieces of
:09:59. > :10:07.the urban transport plan fall into place. And that could take many more
:10:08. > :10:12.years. A quick look at the markets.
:10:13. > :10:18.Japan's Nikkei is shot. All other markets are gaining. -- shut. The
:10:19. > :10:26.markets are fairly quiet going into the holidays. Provision of the US'
:10:27. > :10:32.third-quarter growth was revised and that has had some effect on the
:10:33. > :10:34.Asian markets. We will be back with more from Asia Business Report on
:10:35. > :10:41.the 2nd of January. Happy holidays.
:10:42. > :10:48.This is BBC News. The headlines: Tens of thousands have fled
:10:49. > :10:51.escalating violence in South Sudan. The UN humanitarian co-ordinator
:10:52. > :10:52.there says civilians are increasingly scared and