:00:00. > :00:00.England, Wales, and Scotland for the next few days. Gales and heavy seas
:00:00. > :00:00.are hitting coastlines. Severe warnings for Dorset. Time now for
:00:00. > :00:19.Asia Business Report. The US Central Bank has a new chief
:00:20. > :00:26.as the majority of US senators confirmed Janet Yellen as the first
:00:27. > :00:36.female Chair. Ongoing political demonstrations in Bangkok start to
:00:37. > :00:44.impact tourism in Thailand. Thank you for joining us. We start off in
:00:45. > :00:48.the US where the majority of senators voted to confirmed Janet
:00:49. > :00:51.Yellen as the first female Chair of the Federal Reserve. She will
:00:52. > :00:56.succeed Ben Bernanke who steps down at the end of the month after eight
:00:57. > :00:59.years in office. Janet Yellen is known to be an advocate of the
:01:00. > :01:04.Central Bank's aggressive stimulus policy, also known as quantitative
:01:05. > :01:08.easing. It began in 2008. This month, the amount being pumped into
:01:09. > :01:15.the US economy every month will be reduced from 85 early in dollars to
:01:16. > :01:19.$75 billion. One of her main challenges will be to continue
:01:20. > :01:23.reducing the amount also known as tapering in the months and years
:01:24. > :01:27.ahead. America is still dealing with the next economic picture the start
:01:28. > :01:35.of the New Year. The task will not be an easy one. Our correspondent
:01:36. > :01:39.told us more. On the one hand you see that the unemployment rate in
:01:40. > :01:45.the United States has fallen to 7%. This is a five-year low. It is still
:01:46. > :01:49.high though. There are parts of America, Americans who have been
:01:50. > :01:53.unemployed for longer than six months. This is a big concerned
:01:54. > :01:55.specifically the Janet Yellen. She mentioned that during her
:01:56. > :02:03.confirmation hearing back in November. We are also seeing that
:02:04. > :02:07.the economy are starting to recover. That recovery is still tepid though.
:02:08. > :02:12.That is why they are still needs for these kind of stimulus packages.
:02:13. > :02:17.Then Bernanke and Janet Yellen have both said that the economy is seen
:02:18. > :02:20.recovery but it is not functioning at its top level. The US Central
:02:21. > :02:27.Bank's role as quite crucial at this moment.
:02:28. > :02:29.In Thailand, hundreds of thousands of anti-government protesters are
:02:30. > :02:33.preparing to take to the streets of Bangkok once again over the next
:02:34. > :02:42.week. They are aiming to oust Prime Minister Yingluck strewn -- Yingluck
:02:43. > :02:52.Shinawatra. The vast tourism industry in the country is feeling
:02:53. > :02:56.the heat. Island's of gold that keeps on
:02:57. > :03:02.giving. -- Thailand. Tourism grows for political and economic
:03:03. > :03:09.upheavals. It accounts for more than 7% of the entire economy. Visitor
:03:10. > :03:16.numbers were up 20% last year. That was, until December. Then, a sudden
:03:17. > :03:20.drop. Anti-government protests continued in Bangkok. They went on a
:03:21. > :03:25.week after week, growing bolder and able to challenge, and at times,
:03:26. > :03:31.chase off the police. Nobody can guess now how this will end. Will
:03:32. > :03:36.people still want to spend their holidays here? Until now, the
:03:37. > :03:42.protesters have been little more than an occasional inconvenience and
:03:43. > :03:45.sometimes they have been attractions. The total shutdown
:03:46. > :03:49.planned for next week will have a far more serious impact on the
:03:50. > :03:53.city's economy. What is worrying is that the country's steady drift into
:03:54. > :04:02.a more violent and protracted conflict could drive big investors
:04:03. > :04:06.and manufacturers to reconsider their commitment to Thailand. At
:04:07. > :04:09.electronics were $20 billion a year. That is more than one quarter
:04:10. > :04:15.of the exports that Thailand depends on heavily. These are big, long-term
:04:16. > :04:23.investments. They are not easy to move elsewhere. If they do, they
:04:24. > :04:26.would be coming back quickly. Outside Bangkok, the turmoil is
:04:27. > :04:37.scarcely visible. There is no reason yet to avoid island's which resorts.
:04:38. > :04:43.-- avoid Thailand's each resource. Even the dam, can't be completely
:04:44. > :04:49.separated from the protests. Another business news, South Korea's
:04:50. > :04:53.Samsung Electronics, the world's biggest mobile phone and a TV maker
:04:54. > :05:00.has forecast its profit for the three months to December of last
:05:01. > :05:04.year will fall by about 18% to about $7.8 billion. That is compared to
:05:05. > :05:09.the previous quarter. The report is below analysts expectations. For
:05:10. > :05:16.more news and analysis from around the world you cannot log onto the
:05:17. > :05:19.BBC website and click on the index. China has advised new guidelines for
:05:20. > :05:24.its fast-growing shadow acting industry in an effort to slow
:05:25. > :05:28.growing debt and better regulate the sector's lending practices will stop
:05:29. > :05:30.shadow banking as a channel with financial institutions provide
:05:31. > :05:35.informal sources of loans for businesses. I spoke to our
:05:36. > :05:41.correspondent to find out more about the debt issues.
:05:42. > :05:49.Total debt to GDP in China is now running at about 20%. There is real
:05:50. > :05:53.concern about the risk of financial instability, particularly as a lot
:05:54. > :06:03.of the debt is in the shadow banking sector. That is off balance sheet
:06:04. > :06:08.lending and often designed to circumvent the normal banking
:06:09. > :06:11.regulations. This report aims to tackle some of that risk. As you
:06:12. > :06:16.say, it is part of China's strategy to get away from a model of growth
:06:17. > :06:24.based on this very high level of borrowing and investment, and moving
:06:25. > :06:27.to a more sustainable growth. How are the guidelines competitive
:06:28. > :06:34.shadow banking rules and other nations ?
:06:35. > :06:38.We don't have the final detailss yet but since the financial crisis,
:06:39. > :06:43.shadow banking, the more complex products, have come in for further
:06:44. > :06:49.regulation and all economies. There is concern everywhere that this sort
:06:50. > :06:53.of lending can pose risks of instability. This, in a sense, as
:06:54. > :06:59.China bringing its self and mine with other economies and some people
:07:00. > :07:02.have pointed out the tone of the regulations as evenhanded. It is not
:07:03. > :07:10.trained to do away with a shadow banking sector, they are trained to
:07:11. > :07:17.bring it into a formal sector. The economy China wants to move towards,
:07:18. > :07:22.you need a diversity. People need to be able to go to other sources of
:07:23. > :07:26.the kind get money from other banks. This is China's way, some people
:07:27. > :07:29.would say, of moving towards economic reform which is all geared
:07:30. > :07:37.towards the shift towards each consumer driven economy.
:07:38. > :07:42.Let's now look at the business of safe sex. A slightly taboo subject
:07:43. > :07:46.in Malaysia, a conservative Muslim country. It is also a major rubber
:07:47. > :07:57.producer and the home to the biggest condom and any sector, Karex. --
:07:58. > :08:02.condom manufacturing sector. For every ten condoms produced in
:08:03. > :08:06.the world, at least one comes from Malaysia. It is likely that you have
:08:07. > :08:10.never heard of the company before - Karex. That is because they mainly
:08:11. > :08:13.produced for international brands. Here, they are producing chocolate
:08:14. > :08:18.flavoured condoms, destined for Brazil.
:08:19. > :08:22.A third of the condoms that leave this factory vote to the United
:08:23. > :08:25.Nations and governments to promote safe sex. They want condom satire as
:08:26. > :08:31.possible. Even countries like Indonesia want
:08:32. > :08:33.durian flavoured condoms. Durian?
:08:34. > :08:40.That is the king of sticky fruit. Yes. We also had one client in
:08:41. > :08:45.Amsterdam that was a marijuana flavoured condom.
:08:46. > :08:51.Marijuana? Do I want to ask how you get the extract for that ?
:08:52. > :08:57.It was all synthetic. You don't get any kick from it.
:08:58. > :09:01.Karex is to be innovative. Cost is low because Malaysia produces the
:09:02. > :09:04.main ingredient to make condoms, rubber, but it can't advertise
:09:05. > :09:08.directly to consumers in many countries.
:09:09. > :09:15.Today, young people are very connected to the Internet. Even in
:09:16. > :09:24.Asia. The axis of smartphones has wrought it. -- brought it.
:09:25. > :09:32.We can look at greater access to products. This trickles down to the
:09:33. > :09:33.factory floor. Here, workers check every condom for horse before it is
:09:34. > :09:38.sold. Is it fun ?
:09:39. > :09:43.Yes! What about customer feedback ? To
:09:44. > :09:48.tell me, your condom doesn't fit in. I say, well, if it doesn't fit, you
:09:49. > :09:54.can come to my factory and we will fit you. Look at the size of them.
:09:55. > :10:06.You could practically fit your whole body in it.
:10:07. > :10:09.That is something I hope not to try. Here is a look at the markets.
:10:10. > :10:12.That is something I hope not to try. Here is a Most Asian stocks are
:10:13. > :10:16.trading higher in midday trading after equities were higher
:10:17. > :10:27.overnight. Janet Yellen was confirmed as the new federal chess.
:10:28. > :10:38.-- Federal Chair. Thank you for your time.
:10:39. > :10:48.Headlines: Millions of people across large parts of the United States and
:10:49. > :10:49.Canada are being warned to stay in doors to avoid extremely cold