:00:00. > 3:59:59lawful. Now on BBC News, all the latest
:00:00. > :00:18.business news live from Singapore. Japan's Prime Minister looks set to
:00:19. > :00:24.pledge billions of dollars of aid during his visit to Africa.
:00:25. > :00:26.And cooking with gas - why feeding a family in India is becoming a tough
:00:27. > :00:41.task. We start today with the Japanese
:00:42. > :00:46.Prime Minister, who is visiting the African state of Ivory Coast as part
:00:47. > :00:50.of a trip to the continent. His trip will be the first by a Japanese
:00:51. > :00:54.Premier in eight years and is aimed at boosting his international
:00:55. > :01:00.profile. -- boost to the country 's international profile. He is set to
:01:01. > :01:04.visit Mozambique and Ethiopia. He will be accompanied by a delegation
:01:05. > :01:07.of business executives from up to 29 companies. Japan is a major donor to
:01:08. > :01:12.Africa and has pledged an estimated $14 billion in aid over the next
:01:13. > :01:18.five years. It is expected to spend billions more in private investment.
:01:19. > :01:28.I asked what exactly the prime minister is doing in Africa.
:01:29. > :01:31.This is a sign that he would like Japan to take Africa much more
:01:32. > :01:34.seriously and would like Japanese companies to look harder at Africa
:01:35. > :01:37.for investment opportunities, and as a new market. In the past, Japan has
:01:38. > :01:40.looked at Africa as a place where perhaps they were sold a lot of
:01:41. > :01:44.second-hand Japanese cars and also gave a lot of aid, but it has not
:01:45. > :01:51.been seen as a market for Japanese products. As we have seen with China
:01:52. > :01:55.in the last few years, Africa is growing very fast. Many African
:01:56. > :01:58.economies are growing extremely fast at the moment, and people are
:01:59. > :02:04.starting to see Africa in a very different way. That is what the
:02:05. > :02:08.Prime Minister is trying to push. Do not look at Africa as a place where
:02:09. > :02:13.we just give money to help, but look at it as an opportunity.
:02:14. > :02:15.Do you think part of the reason for the trip is to try to counter
:02:16. > :02:22.China's growing influence? How successful do you think Japan would
:02:23. > :02:26.be at that? Japan has been in Africa longer than
:02:27. > :02:29.China. If you go to African countries, you will see the
:02:30. > :02:33.ubiquitous Toyota Hilux everywhere you go. African countries are very
:02:34. > :02:36.familiar with Japanese products, but it is China that has been making the
:02:37. > :02:48.big inroads, particularly with consumer products. I do not think
:02:49. > :02:52.they will be competing head-to-head. But another part of this, with the
:02:53. > :02:55.rivalry with China, what the prime minister has been doing since he
:02:56. > :02:57.came into power is trying to get Japanese companies to look
:02:58. > :03:05.elsewhere, not just investing in China. Japan is very dependent on
:03:06. > :03:08.China as its biggest export market, but he would like Japanese countries
:03:09. > :03:11.to look elsewhere. Southeast Asia, India, Africa, South America, to try
:03:12. > :03:22.to counterbalance the dependence on the Chinese market.
:03:23. > :03:30.To India, where one of the nation's biggest expenses is subsidising fuel
:03:31. > :03:33.for its people. In an attempt to offset the recent hike in fuel
:03:34. > :03:38.prices, they are considering raising the quantity of gas they provide
:03:39. > :03:41.every family. But it is an election year - are they trying to appease
:03:42. > 1:16:26citizens, and can they afford the exercise?
1:16:27 > 1:16:26On course for delivery. This woman receiving her second gas
1:16:27 > 1:16:26cylinder in less than one month. Feeding a family of eight people has
1:16:27 > 1:16:26been a struggle for her over the last couple of years. Her son, the
1:16:27 > 1:16:26sole breadwinner, does not earn enough to support a huge family. A
1:16:27 > 1:16:26recent hike in cooking gas prices has made life even more difficult.
1:16:27 > 1:16:26TRANSLATION: How can anyone afford such an expensive cooking gas
1:16:27 > 1:16:26cylinder? I prepare the evening meal in the morning to avoid using extra
1:16:27 > 1:16:26cooking gas. The recent hike in nonsubsidised
1:16:27 > 1:16:26cooking gas prices has impacted many families across the country.
1:16:27 > 1:16:26Over 33 million households still use cooking gas cylinders. Distributors
1:16:27 > 1:16:26say that there is growing public anger against price hikes.
1:16:27 > 1:16:26When there is a price increase, the customer issues that resentment at
1:16:27 > 1:16:26the distributor level, because they cannot contact the oil industry. As
1:16:27 > 1:16:26the first contact person, we have to face the wrath of the customer.
1:16:27 > 1:16:26The government provides a subsidy for nine cooking gas cylinders
1:16:27 > 1:16:26consumed by every household annually. With an election in the
1:16:27 > 1:16:26offing, it wants to do more. That could come at a high price.
1:16:27 > 1:16:26The government loses nearly $12 on every subsidised cooking gas
1:16:27 > 1:16:26cylinder that is sold in the market like these. Despite that, there is
1:16:27 > 1:16:26tremendous political pressure to increase the subsidy for cooking
1:16:27 > 1:16:26gas. That could be a tough task, considering that the overall
1:16:27 > 1:16:26finances of the government are not in good shape.
1:16:27 > 1:16:26India's oil subsidy bill is already running higher than the government
1:16:27 > 1:16:26had accounted for in this financial year.
1:16:27 > 1:16:26This means any move to increase the cooking gas subsidy would further
1:16:27 > 1:16:26squeeze the government exchequer. With the recent local state
1:16:27 > 1:16:26elections, the ruling party suffered a heavy defeat.
1:16:27 > 1:16:26With elections around the corner, the current leadership is desperate
1:16:27 > 1:16:26to woo voters. But with the economy not in good
1:16:27 > 1:16:26health, the government will find out that it simply does not have the
1:16:27 > 1:16:26money to provide help to those suffering the hard cost of living.
1:16:27 > 1:16:26China has released its latest trade numbers for December and the
1:16:27 > 1:16:26official data says exports rose less than forecast from last year, while
1:16:27 > 1:16:26imports were up by over 8%. Several car brands have posted
1:16:27 > 1:16:26record sales. Luxury car demand has been growing in emerging markets
1:16:27 > 1:16:26such as China and India as income levels rise.
1:16:27 > 1:16:26Carmakers have also benefited from a recovery in the US, one of the
1:16:27 > 1:16:26biggest markets for luxury cars. After America's crippling recession,
1:16:27 > 1:16:26was largest economy seems to be recovering. The jobless rate in the
1:16:27 > 1:16:26US fell to its lowest rate in five years. Later today, they will lease
1:16:27 > 1:16:26the December jobs data, with markets around the world likely to react
1:16:27 > 1:16:26well if the numbers continue to tell a positive story.
1:16:27 > 1:16:26Despite the gains in the US labour market, the problem of the long-term
1:16:27 > 1:16:26unemployed remains severe, which is a big ongoing challenge for
1:16:27 > 1:16:26America's economy. This woman has been out of work for
1:16:27 > 1:16:26nine months. She has exhausted her unemployment benefits, and has very
1:16:27 > 1:16:26little left in the bank. I woke up one day and was not as
1:16:27 > 1:16:26positive as I once was. I was wondering what was wrong with me
1:16:27 > 1:16:26that I was not able to find a job. It starts to get you down on
1:16:27 > 1:16:26yourself, to be honest. I had gone through fits of depression here and
1:16:27 > 1:16:26there. It is hard, a struggle. I am not the type to not work. I need to
1:16:27 > 1:16:26be a productive member of society, and be around people.
1:16:27 > 1:16:26She does not have a job interview today, it is heading out to
1:16:27 > 1:16:26personally drop off her resume at a company she knows has an opening.
1:16:27 > 1:16:26Her way of setting herself apart from the competition. This career
1:16:27 > 1:16:26coach has seen many people like her. America's job market is improving,
1:16:27 > 1:16:26but prospects are tough longer you have been out of work.
1:16:27 > 1:16:26Imagine what happens when you have been out for a few years, and you
1:16:27 > 1:16:26are going out to the marketplace and are competing against individuals
1:16:27 > 1:16:26who are freshly unemployed, given that the market is opening up, you
1:16:27 > 1:16:26have people who are working and looking to make a change and you are
1:16:27 > 1:16:26competing against them. There are more than 4 million
1:16:27 > 1:16:26Americans that have been out of work six months or longer. The sheer
1:16:27 > 1:16:26number of long-term unemployed is having a ripple effect on the US
1:16:27 > 1:16:26economy, because of these workers are not earning to their full
1:16:27 > 1:16:26potential. It is less money in their pockets
1:16:27 > 1:16:26that they can spend on groceries, clothing, gas, bills, rent,
1:16:27 > 1:16:26mortgages. These are people that are a drag on our economy as a whole. It
1:16:27 > 1:16:26is this kind of spending that creates more employment in the first
1:16:27 > 1:16:26place. Despite the months of searching, she
1:16:27 > 1:16:26remains optimistic. Perhaps the next time she walks into this building,
1:16:27 > 1:16:26she will do it as an employee. That jobs report is being eagerly
1:16:27 > 1:16:26watched by many investors in Asia because they are fairly cautious, as
1:16:27 > 1:16:26you can see. Some gains, but fairly mixed because of declines in Korea
1:16:27 > 1:16:26and Australia. The China Dato was fairly mixed as
1:16:27 > 1:16:27well, investors not knowing what to make of that, but -- the China Dato.