:00:00. > :00:00.lawful. Now on BBC News, all the latest
:00:00. > :00:19.business news live from Singapore. Japan's Prime Minister looks set to
:00:20. > :00:26.pledge billions of dollars of aid during his visit to Africa.
:00:27. > :00:28.And cooking with gas, why feeding a family in India is becoming a tough
:00:29. > :00:42.task. We start today with the Japanese
:00:43. > :00:47.Prime Minister, who is visiting the African state of Ivory Coast as part
:00:48. > :00:52.of a trip to the continent. His trip will be the first by a Japanese
:00:53. > :00:56.Premier and eight years and is -- in eight years and is aimed at boosting
:00:57. > :01:03.his international profile. He is set to visit Mozambique and Ethiopia.
:01:04. > :01:07.You will be accompanied by a delegation of business executives
:01:08. > :01:12.from up to 29 companies. Japan is a major donor to Africa and has
:01:13. > :01:17.pledged an estimated $14 billion in aid over the next five years. It is
:01:18. > :01:23.expected to spend billions more in private investment. I asked what
:01:24. > :01:26.exactly the prime minister is doing in Africa.
:01:27. > :01:31.This is a sign that he would like Japan to take Africa much more
:01:32. > :01:36.seriously and would like Japanese companies to look harder at Africa
:01:37. > :01:40.for investment opportunities, and is a new market. In the past, Japan has
:01:41. > :01:44.looked at Africa as a place where perhaps they were sold a lot of
:01:45. > :01:49.second-hand Japanese cars and also gave a lot of aid, but it has not
:01:50. > :01:53.been seen as a market for Japanese products. As we have seen with China
:01:54. > :01:58.in the last few years, Africa is growing very fast. Many African
:01:59. > :02:03.economies are growing extremely fast at the moment, and people are
:02:04. > :02:07.starting to see Africa in a very different way. That is what the
:02:08. > :02:10.Prime Minister is trying to push. Do not look at Africa as a place where
:02:11. > :02:15.we just give money to help, but look at it as an opportunity.
:02:16. > :02:19.Do you think part of the reason for the trip is to try to counter
:02:20. > :02:24.China's growing influence? How successful dip in Japan would be at
:02:25. > :02:28.that? Japan has been in Africa a lot than
:02:29. > :02:32.China will stop if you go to African countries, you will see the
:02:33. > :02:37.ubiquitous Toyota hi Lux everywhere you go. African countries are very
:02:38. > :02:43.familiar with Japanese products, but it is China that has been making
:02:44. > :02:49.the" , particularly -- making the big inroads, particularly with
:02:50. > :02:51.consumer products. I do not think there will be competing
:02:52. > :02:56.head-to-head. But other part of this, with the rival whether China,
:02:57. > :02:59.what a minister has been doing since he came into power is trying to get
:03:00. > :03:04.Japanese companies to look elsewhere, not just investing in
:03:05. > :03:09.China. China -- Japan is very dependent on China as its biggest
:03:10. > :03:12.export market, but he would like Japanese countries to look
:03:13. > :03:20.elsewhere. Southeast Asia, India, Africa South America, to try to
:03:21. > :03:23.counterbalance the dependence on the Chinese market.
:03:24. > :03:27.To India, where one of the nation 's biggest expenses is subsidising fuel
:03:28. > :03:35.for its people. In an attempt to offset the week at -- recent hike in
:03:36. > :03:40.fuel prices, they are considering raising the quantity of gas they
:03:41. > :03:44.provide every fantasy. -- family. But it is an election year, are they
:03:45. > :03:50.trying to appease citizens, and can make for the exercise?
:03:51. > :03:58.-- can they afford. On course for delivery. This woman
:03:59. > :04:03.receiving her second gas cylinder in less than one month. Feeding a
:04:04. > :04:06.family of eight people has been a struggle for her over the last
:04:07. > :04:12.couple of years. Her son, the sole breadwinner, does not earn enough to
:04:13. > :04:17.support a huge family. A recent hike in cooking gas prices has made like
:04:18. > :04:20.even more difficult. TRANSLATION: How can anyone afford such an
:04:21. > :04:26.expensive cooking gas cylinder? I prepare the evening meal in the
:04:27. > :04:29.morning to avoid using extra cooking gas.
:04:30. > :04:37.The recent hike in nonsubsidised cooking gas prices has impacted many
:04:38. > :04:40.families across the country. Over 23 million households still use cooking
:04:41. > :04:46.gas cylinders. Distributors say that there is growing public anger
:04:47. > :04:54.against price hikes. When there is a price increase, the customer issues
:04:55. > :05:00.that resentment at the distributor level, because they cannot contact
:05:01. > :05:05.the oil industry. As the first contact person, we have to face the
:05:06. > :05:10.rat of the customer. -- rat of the customer. The
:05:11. > :05:13.government provides a subsidy for nine cooking gas cylinders consumed
:05:14. > :05:17.by every household annually. With an election in the offing, it wants to
:05:18. > :05:24.do more. That could come at a high price. The government loses nearly
:05:25. > :05:29.$12 on every subsidised cooking gas cylinder that is sold in the market
:05:30. > :05:31.like these. Despite that, this -- there is tremendous political
:05:32. > :05:35.pressure to increase the subsidy for cooking gas. That could be a tough
:05:36. > :05:40.task, considering that the overall finances of the government are not
:05:41. > :05:42.in good shape. India's oil subsidy bill is already
:05:43. > :05:47.running higher than the government had accounted for in this financial
:05:48. > :05:54.year. This means any move to increase the cooking gas subsidy
:05:55. > :05:59.would further squeeze the government exchequer. With the recent local
:06:00. > :06:06.state elections, the ruling Congress party suffered a heavy defeat. With
:06:07. > :06:10.elections around the corner, the current leadership is desperate to
:06:11. > :06:18.woo voters. But with the economy not in good health, the government will
:06:19. > :06:21.find out that it's -- that it simply does not have the money to provide
:06:22. > :06:28.help to those suffering the heart cost of living.
:06:29. > :06:33.China has released its latest trade numbers for December and the
:06:34. > :06:38.official barter -- dataset exports rose from last, while imports were
:06:39. > :06:45.up by over 8%. It leaves the country with a surplus of just over 23.5
:06:46. > :06:51.billion dollars for the month. It leaves the nation with a trade
:06:52. > :06:58.surplus of close to $260 billion for diverting.
:06:59. > :07:05.Several car brands have posted record sales. Luxury car to mount
:07:06. > :07:11.has been growing in emerging markets such as China and India as income
:07:12. > :07:15.levels rise. Carmakers have also benefited from a recovery in the US,
:07:16. > :07:17.one of the biggest markets for luxury cars.
:07:18. > :07:23.Asia's satellite operators are hailing the potential of a new
:07:24. > :07:26.technology developed by an American firm, which slashes the cost of
:07:27. > :07:35.lodgers. The rocket Company, space X, this week sent at second
:07:36. > :07:37.satellite into orbit, offering launches that undercut established
:07:38. > :07:51.players. They empty shakeup the rocket business, which will help
:07:52. > :07:56.Asian operators expand their reach. An important mission for satellite
:07:57. > :08:01.technology in developing countries. Developed by the American firm space
:08:02. > :08:08.X, it is the second Falcon nine rocket sent into orbit, this time
:08:09. > :08:12.for the Asian operator. This blastoff marks a big step in
:08:13. > :08:14.improving the reliability of new technology that can drastically
:08:15. > :08:20.reduce the cost of lodgers. Cutting the launch cost is enormous, because
:08:21. > :08:25.the actual launch can cost as much as the satellite itself, $100
:08:26. > :08:31.million or more. If you can take $50 million out of the launch cost, that
:08:32. > :08:36.is money you do not need to recover from customers who are paying for
:08:37. > :08:41.communications services. One of the world 's leading satellite
:08:42. > :08:46.operators, SES, became the first to bet on the technology last month.
:08:47. > :08:53.That is when the SES eight was launched into geostationary orbit,
:08:54. > :08:57.36,000 kilometres above the equator, extending the firms 's reach across
:08:58. > :09:01.South Asia and Indochina. The operators say demand for satellites
:09:02. > :09:06.is exploding and it is partly being driven up by the increasing number
:09:07. > :09:09.of people wanting high-definition television services, said to be
:09:10. > :09:17.growing at a rate of 6% each year. This control room, operated in
:09:18. > :09:21.Singapore, transmits the signals of more than 100 channels across Asia,
:09:22. > :09:27.beaming them up to satellite across the region. Another benefit is
:09:28. > :09:33.improved coverage for mobile phone and Internet services. SES says the
:09:34. > :09:38.opportunities for emerging markets like India, Vietnam and Indonesia
:09:39. > :09:42.are astronomical. What we have been able to do with space X is a board
:09:43. > :09:46.the launch of the satellite programme, which on a conventional
:09:47. > :09:49.rocket would not have been possible. I think this is the proof
:09:50. > :09:55.of the pudding, which ensures that many smaller satellite programmes,
:09:56. > :09:59.that are appropriate to the demands of smaller developing nations, will
:10:00. > :10:05.now become viable. It seems the sky is the limit. Space X hopes to
:10:06. > :10:08.eventually recover the first stage of the rocket, so it can bring it
:10:09. > :10:12.back to her for a controlled landing. If they can be reused, that
:10:13. > :10:18.could reduce the launch costs even further.
:10:19. > :10:24.A very quick look at the markets. Investors and traders are reacting
:10:25. > :10:29.very little to the mixed bag of Chinese data that we saw earlier.
:10:30. > :10:42.Markets are down over caution of the jobs report in the US.
:10:43. > :10:46.The top stories this hour: relations between the US and India have
:10:47. > :10:49.worsened - the diplomat arrested and strip-searched in New York has been
:10:50. > :10:52.charged with fraud and asked to leave the country.
:10:53. > :10:55.A Pakistani police chief, one of the country's most prominent opponents
:10:56. > :11:01.of the Taliban, has been killed by the Taliban in what they say is a
:11:02. > :11:05.revenge attack. Insurance companies are starting to
:11:06. > :11:06.count the cost of the recent storms, as they prepare to