22/01/2014 Asia Business Report

other developed countries. Time for the latest business news

from Singapore. Turbulence in the air. All Nippon

Airways gets a mixed reaction to its latest commercial.

And global leaders kickstart their annual summit at the global economic

Forum. -- World Economic Forum. Welcome to the Asia Business Report.

Japan's largest airline has pulled a television commercial after

receiving complaints from some customers who have labelled it a

racist and offensive. This was an advertisement that was

released on Saturday by Nippon Airways. It is supposed to be

humorous. It is supposed to be direct it at Japanese audiences

only. It is about promoting it as a place. It is supposed to be for

Japanese people. But it was all in English. A famous Japanese actor and

FMS Japanese comedian dressed as pilots speaking to other in

English. It is particularly the last little bit of the advertisement that

has caused offence. I will let you judge for yourself.

You want a hug? Such a Japanese reaction. Because I am Japanese. I

see. Let us change from Japanese people. This did not just go to

Japanese audiences. It spread around the world. It was an immediate

response that set it engaged in racial stereotyping and was

terrible. I Monday the company apologised. By Tuesday they pulled

the advertisement is completely. I would say that here in Japan, blonde

hair and the big nose is considered a positive attribute. It is not

really derogatory racism. Earlier I spoke with a member of the public

relations company and I asked him about his reaction to the

commercial. There is positively no place

whatsoever for advertisements which ended in racial stereotyping. There

is an argument that some people domestically, local audiences, not

finding this offensive, it is slapstick humour. There is no such

thing as a domestic advertisement. Social media has had such an

explosive effect in tearing down the boundaries. Anything can be put on

social media and become worldwide. The mistake of not realising that

this could go viral. That is exactly what happened. Let us take a look at

some of the Facebook comments. Some of the comments to give you an idea.

Some people say it is not offensive, just a bit of humour. What is key is

how we handle this and how they go from here. What would your advice

be? They were not fast enough. They took three days. They do not

apologise directly. They apologised for offence given, but not for

having produced it in the first place. It undermines the sincerity.

You have been working in PR for a number of years. What would you say

if it happened under your watch? I would make sure any advertisement

produced anywhere in the world has the whole world in mind. What is the

image that is left in the mind of the target audience? Stereotyping an

outline that may not understand them. They have to think about the

endgame. What are people going to do and think in consequence?

Catching up with some of the other business news, in Australia

inflation picked up faster than expected in the final quarter than

expected. The cost of food, travel and tobacco rose. Inflation

increased by 0.8%. Taking annual inflation to 2.7%. The rise in

prices has lower the possibility of another cut in the central bank's

lending rate. The Thai government has declared a state of emergency in

the capital. This started today. It is aimed at countering protesters

who have been on a campaign to oust the Prime Minister. The decree will

allow the authorities to impose curfews, detain suspects and banned

political gatherings. The political stand-off has resulted in millions

of dollars in lost business. And the earnings season is under way on Wall

Street. IBM has reported a 6% rise in net income. It owns $16 billion.

The revenue came in below what analysts were expecting.

Business, global and political leaders are arriving for the World

Economic Forum. Around 2500 guests will be there representing more than

1000 organisations and 100 nationalities.

It is an unlikely spot for the biggest meeting of business leaders

in the world. But here in Switzerland, 2500 executives and

wild leaders congregate each year. This year's The Miz how to reshape

the world. Whether it is by bus, train or helicopter, it is not just

finance ministers, but academics and journalists who come here. When I

was a special adviser I was always asked to propose concrete policy

solutions. But first, what is the idea of reshaping the world? It

means that the world is changing. The world will look differently from

what it looks today. Just look at the technological revolution is.

Look at the whole question of the cyber world. Look at 3-dimensional

printing. I could go on and on. There is tremendous progress made in

biology, medicine and so on. We will be in a different world. We have to

prepare. Preparations may be nearly finished, but the hard work has yet

to begin. There is great to be a lot of sessions talking about what the

world will look like. There are already issues of slow growth,

unemployment, rising inequality and climate change. Maybe there will be

a report, but usually there is not. That is why it is frequently

described as just being a talking shop. Then again, when the talking

is by leaders, the networking process can be important. I have

been invited to have tricks with a royal, dinner with a billionaire and

a fireside chat with technology entrepreneur. Some say it is those

conversations that will help reshape the world. As with all plans, only

time will tell. Record-breaking prices for Art from

China in recent years have created huge interest in contemporary pieces

from Asia. But why? We caught up with the head of a luncheon gallery

and asked him about the current interest in Asian art. -- London.

Probably the breadth and diversity of the work that we are seeing could

only be possible in greater Asia because not only have you got an

area that where economies are growing fastest in the world,

societies are changing. You have also got incredible difference and

disparity within that region. You have got China, Korea, Indonesia,

Japan, Russia and Australia. They have very different cultures. We

have seen record prices being achieved at auction for many Chinese

artists. What is the sudden interest in Asia and Chinese art? Economic

growth and interest in art have always gone hand in hand. I do not

think it is a new thing that we are going through. What tends to happen

is that it happens in cycles. There has been a shift in interest from

America and Europe over to Asia. That is a good thing. It is not just

China. The reason we are focusing on greater Asia is that there is far

greater breadth in interest in the quality of the work the artists are

producing. You run a large gallery in London. Proportionately how many

Asian artists have you been showing? We spend a lot of time in Asia

because of the growth and interest in that area. As I said, it is very

much the focus on greater Asia rather than one particular country.

That is it for this addition of Asia Business Report.

See you soon. Here are the headlines: Syria's

government has rejected allegations that carried out systematic torture

and executions of 11,000 people in one area of the country alone. The

US call for calm in Thailand as protesters