:00:00. > :00:00.women who claim he sexually harassed them. -- to four women. Time now put
:00:00. > :00:18.latest business news from Singapore. Where are the jobs? The
:00:19. > :00:22.International Labour Organisation sees rising unemployment in the next
:00:23. > :00:26.few years. Smaller cars in Malaysia 's - the
:00:27. > :00:33.government unveiling policies which could create big changes for foreign
:00:34. > :00:38.calm and factories. Viewer watching Asia Business
:00:39. > :00:42.Report. The world economy may have turned the corner, but the job
:00:43. > :00:44.market is yet to recover. That is according to the latest report from
:00:45. > :00:48.the International Labour Organisation. The study shows not
:00:49. > :00:53.enough new jobs are being created to keep up with a growing labour force.
:00:54. > :00:57.This is how it looks. Almost 202 million people will be jobless and
:00:58. > :01:03.around the world last year. That is 5 million more than the previous
:01:04. > :01:07.year. Global unemployment is expected to continue to rise. There
:01:08. > :01:15.will be 250 million people seeking jobs by 2015. An economist gave as a
:01:16. > :01:20.breakdown of the findings. The latest report finds that
:01:21. > :01:25.unemployment has increased by 5 million. Half of that increase has
:01:26. > :01:30.been in East Asia and South Asia. It is from a rally attracting young
:01:31. > :01:33.people. Young jobseekers. In key finding is that the quality of jobs
:01:34. > :01:38.will remain very low in developing economies. Nearly 600 million
:01:39. > :01:45.workers are still on too little to escape poverty. This is hindering
:01:46. > :01:51.consumer demand and hindering prospects for business expansion.
:01:52. > :01:55.Did we find out why? There are a number of factors team place.
:01:56. > :02:00.Because of the rapid structural transformation taking place, young
:02:01. > :02:02.graduates are facing skills mismatch is in terms of what they
:02:03. > :02:08.qualifications are and what demands are. And South Asia, economic
:02:09. > :02:13.structural changes have been slower. There has been more labour falls
:02:14. > :02:15.growth and population growth. It has created more pressure on the economy
:02:16. > :02:20.to create jobs that will lower poverty and reduce vulnerability.
:02:21. > :02:28.Not enough jobs are being created. Is there any solution being put
:02:29. > :02:34.forward to cope with that? It is important to support business in
:02:35. > :02:37.terms of finance and business services to expand their
:02:38. > :02:41.opportunities to create new markets. It is also important to help workers
:02:42. > :02:46.developing new skills and filling the skills gaps we see. This will
:02:47. > :02:51.help workers have better access to higher quality jobs with higher
:02:52. > :02:58.wages. For businesses, this will help increase productivity and
:02:59. > :03:07.competitiveness. We are getting reports that China's Lenovo has
:03:08. > :03:11.restarted talks to buy part of IBM. The two companies could not agree on
:03:12. > :03:16.a deal last year. Lenovo had previously placed at $2.5 billion
:03:17. > :03:19.value on the server business which provides equipment for the running
:03:20. > :03:28.of corporate data centres. Malaysia has unveiled a new policy on cars,
:03:29. > :03:36.with incentives for smaller vehicles. Previously, vehicles could
:03:37. > :03:41.only be manufactured with a size of 1.8 litres. The changes as single
:03:42. > :03:46.new opportunities for international brands who are looking for new
:03:47. > :03:51.avenues of growth. Around six and 30,000 cars were sold in Malaysia
:03:52. > :03:57.last year. That is a 5% growth can purchase sales in 2012. The
:03:58. > :04:03.government hopes to increase total production to 1.2 5 million vehicles
:04:04. > :04:08.by 2020. From Kuala Lumpur, respondent explains while that --
:04:09. > :04:12.why the government is changing its policy. The are trying to compete
:04:13. > :04:17.with Thailand for foreign investment. From now on, foreign
:04:18. > :04:23.carmakers can make smaller cars, but only if they energy efficient. The
:04:24. > :04:27.idea is that there are only two National carmakers who dominate the
:04:28. > :04:35.market. They produce cheaper cars. They are asking Malaysians to now
:04:36. > :04:38.have more choices with foreign car makers coming in. It will hopefully
:04:39. > :04:44.bring down prices by 30% in the next four years. They were previously
:04:45. > :04:48.quite squared about protecting narrow and is not protecting their
:04:49. > :04:52.own. What impact do you think this will have? National carmakers know
:04:53. > :04:56.this is then coming for quite sometime. It is what Malaysians have
:04:57. > :05:00.been asking for. The average Malaysia is spending a lot of money
:05:01. > :05:06.per car. Either one of the cheapest cars can cost more than a years
:05:07. > :05:10.worth of salary for average family. That is just an idea of how
:05:11. > :05:13.expensive cars are. We have heard some Malaysians we have spoken to
:05:14. > :05:23.who are concerned about the rising cost of living. Cutting of prices
:05:24. > :05:28.for cars is a major point for major carmakers. Already they are looking
:05:29. > :05:32.at more innovative path. They are trying to look at other factors
:05:33. > :05:38.including adding more social digital technologies. Now you can control
:05:39. > :05:43.your car through a smartphone. Consumers will buy local brands as
:05:44. > :05:47.opposed to foreign brands. We saw a muted reaction to China's GDP
:05:48. > :05:54.figures yesterday. One country which is quite pleased is Australia. It is
:05:55. > :05:56.China's largest trading partner. The shipment of goods from Australia to
:05:57. > :06:03.China reached a record high in November. There was a growth rate of
:06:04. > :06:06.55% year-on-year. The world's second-largest economy imports
:06:07. > :06:11.mainly iron ore from Australia. I spoke with a resource analyst and
:06:12. > :06:19.asked him for his reaction to China's latest growth figures. We
:06:20. > :06:23.expect that China growing at 7.7% to 2013 was actually a very good
:06:24. > :06:29.number. The markets have been quite pessimistic that we would see,
:06:30. > :06:34.32013, a heartland if that particular economy. It is not going
:06:35. > :06:42.down that road at this point. Going forward, we still expect a very
:06:43. > :06:47.stable and robust growth in 2014. What does that mean for Australia?
:06:48. > :06:52.How significant is that? It is very significant for Australia. We are,
:06:53. > :07:05.as you suggested, very big exporters to that particular country. Provided
:07:06. > :07:09.we do see China growing at a very stable 7%, we think that the
:07:10. > :07:17.physical delivery of both commodities in food and energy will
:07:18. > :07:22.continue to enjoy quite robust growth through 2014. What is your
:07:23. > :07:27.biggest concern when you look at the ties between China and Australia? If
:07:28. > :07:36.we had one concern for Australia, it is that all of our eggs are pointed
:07:37. > :07:42.toward one major market. If that major market had some geopolitical
:07:43. > :07:46.event or perhaps did start a hard landing cycle in its economy,
:07:47. > :07:53.Australia would unfortunately catch a very serious flu. If there was a
:07:54. > :07:59.concern, that is it. However, China is such an immense country. It has
:08:00. > :08:03.the firepower in terms of government policies, high interest rates that
:08:04. > :08:08.it can keep its economy ticking over. I think Australia will be
:08:09. > :08:10.well-placed for some years to come to deliver its food commodities and
:08:11. > :08:15.it's hard rock and energy commodities. Thank you.
:08:16. > :08:19.Tens of thousands of workers who might half of the world's Platinum
:08:20. > :08:25.asset to go on strike in South Africa. Japan and China are in the
:08:26. > :08:30.top five export destinations. The strike is due to take place on
:08:31. > :08:40.first. Our correspondent has more. -- on Thursday. The Association of
:08:41. > :08:45.Mineworkers are demanding wage increases to the tune of more than
:08:46. > :08:51.double what the average mine worker earns at entry level. The South
:08:52. > :08:55.African finance Mr has weighed in on the issue, saying that South Africa
:08:56. > :09:00.could not afford more instability in the mining sector. This is a
:09:01. > :09:05.situation that has been monitored closely internationally, mainly
:09:06. > :09:10.because South Africa holds about 80% of the world 's platinum reserves.
:09:11. > :09:20.As a result, the nation is a major exporter to countries in Europe and
:09:21. > :09:24.also Asia. Analysts have been quite bullish about the sector, saying
:09:25. > :09:29.that they expected an increase in prices and demand with the increases
:09:30. > :09:35.and improvements in the automotive sector. Demand is also up in China,
:09:36. > :09:41.where 80% of Platinum is used in jewellery making. Japan has seen an
:09:42. > :09:45.increase were that amount is about two thirds the figures we see coming
:09:46. > :09:54.out of China. They have been some concerns about the expected slowdown
:09:55. > :09:57.in the Chinese economy. In general, analysts are monitoring the
:09:58. > :10:02.situation in South Africa's mines. There is a sense that a protracted
:10:03. > :10:10.strike could holds about half of global production. That a halt.
:10:11. > :10:14.Markets have crept pretty high at the moment as Japanese stocks are
:10:15. > :10:20.driven largely by demand for the yen which has dragged stocks from South
:10:21. > :10:25.Korea and Taiwan. Bull markets currently up. More earnings reports
:10:26. > :10:28.out of America later today. It will be interesting to see what impact
:10:29. > :10:41.those markets will have. That is the Asia Business Report.
:10:42. > :10:50.Headlines: Syrian peace talks are to go ahead after the main opposition
:10:51. > :10:51.group has said it will attend. An invitation to Iran has been