07/01/2014 Asia Business Report

England, Wales, and Scotland for the next few days. Gales and heavy seas

are hitting coastlines. Severe warnings for Dorset. Time now for

Asia Business Report. The US Central Bank has a new chief

as the majority of US senators confirmed Janet Yellen as the first

female Chair. Ongoing political demonstrations in Bangkok start to

impact tourism in Thailand. Thank you for joining us. We start off in

the US where the majority of senators voted to confirmed Janet

Yellen as the first female Chair of the Federal Reserve. She will

succeed Ben Bernanke who steps down at the end of the month after eight

years in office. Janet Yellen is known to be an advocate of the

Central Bank's aggressive stimulus policy, also known as quantitative

easing. It began in 2008. This month, the amount being pumped into

the US economy every month will be reduced from 85 early in dollars to

$75 billion. One of her main challenges will be to continue

reducing the amount also known as tapering in the months and years

ahead. America is still dealing with the next economic picture the start

of the New Year. The task will not be an easy one. Our correspondent

told us more. On the one hand you see that the unemployment rate in

the United States has fallen to 7%. This is a five-year low. It is still

high though. There are parts of America, Americans who have been

unemployed for longer than six months. This is a big concerned

specifically the Janet Yellen. She mentioned that during her

confirmation hearing back in November. We are also seeing that

the economy are starting to recover. That recovery is still tepid though.

That is why they are still needs for these kind of stimulus packages.

Then Bernanke and Janet Yellen have both said that the economy is seen

recovery but it is not functioning at its top level. The US Central

Bank's role as quite crucial at this moment.

In Thailand, hundreds of thousands of anti-government protesters are

preparing to take to the streets of Bangkok once again over the next

week. They are aiming to oust Prime Minister Yingluck strewn -- Yingluck

Shinawatra. The vast tourism industry in the country is feeling

the heat. Island's of gold that keeps on

giving. -- Thailand. Tourism grows for political and economic

upheavals. It accounts for more than 7% of the entire economy. Visitor

numbers were up 20% last year. That was, until December. Then, a sudden

drop. Anti-government protests continued in Bangkok. They went on a

week after week, growing bolder and able to challenge, and at times,

chase off the police. Nobody can guess now how this will end. Will

people still want to spend their holidays here? Until now, the

protesters have been little more than an occasional inconvenience and

sometimes they have been attractions. The total shutdown

planned for next week will have a far more serious impact on the

city's economy. What is worrying is that the country's steady drift into

a more violent and protracted conflict could drive big investors

and manufacturers to reconsider their commitment to Thailand. At

electronics were $20 billion a year. That is more than one quarter

of the exports that Thailand depends on heavily. These are big, long-term

investments. They are not easy to move elsewhere. If they do, they

would be coming back quickly. Outside Bangkok, the turmoil is

scarcely visible. There is no reason yet to avoid island's which resorts.

-- avoid Thailand's each resource. Even the dam, can't be completely

separated from the protests. Another business news, South Korea's

Samsung Electronics, the world's biggest mobile phone and a TV maker

has forecast its profit for the three months to December of last

year will fall by about 18% to about $7.8 billion. That is compared to

the previous quarter. The report is below analysts expectations. For

more news and analysis from around the world you cannot log onto the

BBC website and click on the index. China has advised new guidelines for

its fast-growing shadow acting industry in an effort to slow

growing debt and better regulate the sector's lending practices will stop

shadow banking as a channel with financial institutions provide

informal sources of loans for businesses. I spoke to our

correspondent to find out more about the debt issues.

Total debt to GDP in China is now running at about 20%. There is real

concern about the risk of financial instability, particularly as a lot

of the debt is in the shadow banking sector. That is off balance sheet

lending and often designed to circumvent the normal banking

regulations. This report aims to tackle some of that risk. As you

say, it is part of China's strategy to get away from a model of growth

based on this very high level of borrowing and investment, and moving

to a more sustainable growth. How are the guidelines competitive

shadow banking rules and other nations ?

We don't have the final detailss yet but since the financial crisis,

shadow banking, the more complex products, have come in for further

regulation and all economies. There is concern everywhere that this sort

of lending can pose risks of instability. This, in a sense, as

China bringing its self and mine with other economies and some people

have pointed out the tone of the regulations as evenhanded. It is not

trained to do away with a shadow banking sector, they are trained to

bring it into a formal sector. The economy China wants to move towards,

you need a diversity. People need to be able to go to other sources of

the kind get money from other banks. This is China's way, some people

would say, of moving towards economic reform which is all geared

towards the shift towards each consumer driven economy.

Let's now look at the business of safe sex. A slightly taboo subject

in Malaysia, a conservative Muslim country. It is also a major rubber

producer and the home to the biggest condom and any sector, Karex. --

condom manufacturing sector. For every ten condoms produced in

the world, at least one comes from Malaysia. It is likely that you have

never heard of the company before - Karex. That is because they mainly

produced for international brands. Here, they are producing chocolate

flavoured condoms, destined for Brazil.

A third of the condoms that leave this factory vote to the United

Nations and governments to promote safe sex. They want condom satire as

possible. Even countries like Indonesia want

durian flavoured condoms. Durian?

That is the king of sticky fruit. Yes. We also had one client in

Amsterdam that was a marijuana flavoured condom.

Marijuana? Do I want to ask how you get the extract for that ?

It was all synthetic. You don't get any kick from it.

Karex is to be innovative. Cost is low because Malaysia produces the

main ingredient to make condoms, rubber, but it can't advertise

directly to consumers in many countries.

Today, young people are very connected to the Internet. Even in

Asia. The axis of smartphones has wrought it. -- brought it.

We can look at greater access to products. This trickles down to the

factory floor. Here, workers check every condom for horse before it is

sold. Is it fun ?

Yes! What about customer feedback ? To

tell me, your condom doesn't fit in. I say, well, if it doesn't fit, you

can come to my factory and we will fit you. Look at the size of them.

You could practically fit your whole body in it.

That is something I hope not to try. Here is a look at the markets.

That is something I hope not to try. Here is a Most Asian stocks are

trading higher in midday trading after equities were higher

overnight. Janet Yellen was confirmed as the new federal chess.

-- Federal Chair. Thank you for your time.

Headlines: Millions of people across large parts of the United States and

Canada are being warned to stay in doors to avoid extremely cold