:00:00. > :00:00.is the biggest fall since 1997. 30 million people have jobs, and the
:00:00. > :00:10.number of people out of work stands at 7.1%.
:00:11. > :00:16.Now it is time for Asia Business Report.
:00:17. > :00:26.Pro or anti nuclear? Energy policies take centre stage in Tokyo's
:00:27. > :00:30.governors race. Economic growth and renewable energy, why Southeast Asia
:00:31. > :00:39.is becoming a destination for green investors.
:00:40. > :00:43.Welcome to Asia Business Report. We start in Japan, where campaigning is
:00:44. > :00:52.under way for the new Tokyo Governor. The vote is ingested at
:00:53. > :01:00.two weeks time. -- the vote is in just over two weeks time. A former
:01:01. > :01:06.PM has surprised everyone by putting himself in the race. They are
:01:07. > :01:13.campaigning on an antinuclear platform, , and pitted against the
:01:14. > :01:19.front runner, who has the backing of the ruling Liberal Democrat party,
:01:20. > :01:28.and the current PM. So many names and so many prime ministers, but
:01:29. > :01:33.earlier I spoke with someone from the Wall Street Journal. The
:01:34. > :01:41.campaign kicks off today, and obviously, it is hoped that the
:01:42. > :01:45.nuclear issue, which has been around ever since the Fukushima accident,
:01:46. > :01:50.can really get traction now. The mood of the country is split on the
:01:51. > :01:55.idea of whether Japan should restart its nuclear power plants, but the
:01:56. > :02:01.movement hasn't really coalesced. This will be a defining moment to
:02:02. > :02:06.see if it does. You see the country is split over the nuclear issue, but
:02:07. > :02:10.what about the sense in Tokyo itself? Obviously, after the
:02:11. > :02:15.Fukushima crisis it seemed there were many people who were against
:02:16. > :02:18.the idea of nuclear power there. I think Tokyo is probably the centre
:02:19. > :02:25.of the antinuclear movement, with something like 60% against
:02:26. > :02:31.restarting the nuclear plants. There are other people who say that other
:02:32. > :02:34.issues should be the ones that are discussed in this election, not
:02:35. > :02:40.nuclear policy. What could these is the be? More down-to-earth issues.
:02:41. > :02:46.Healthcare, retirement pensions, things like that that affect peoples
:02:47. > :02:55.lives on a daily basis. And things that are more in the purview of the
:02:56. > :03:01.Tokyo Governor. There are calls that the candidate won't be good for the
:03:02. > :03:13.economy. Mary Mac that will depend on how far the antinuclear aspect of
:03:14. > :03:16.this goes. Japan is importing large amounts of fossil fuel to keep
:03:17. > :03:23.electricity running, and that has had a big effect on the deficit.
:03:24. > :03:29.That can harm the economy. The other big issue is that if there are no
:03:30. > :03:31.nuclear plants, electricity prices for industry are likely to rise, and
:03:32. > :03:37.that could be a problem for Abenomics. In other news, factory
:03:38. > :03:43.activity in China slowdown in January, the first contraction in
:03:44. > :03:51.six months, as new orders declined. That is according to compilations
:03:52. > :03:56.from HSBC's purchasing managers index. Any reading under 50
:03:57. > :04:01.indicates a contraction. The flash data shows that a mild slowdown at
:04:02. > :04:07.the end of last year has continued into the start of the New Year. The
:04:08. > :04:09.South Korean Central Bank says it recorded its fastest growth in
:04:10. > :04:14.nearly three years. The economy expanded by 3.9% from the previous
:04:15. > :04:18.year. That is due to an increase in capital expenditure. For all of last
:04:19. > :04:34.year, Asia's fourth-largest economy expanded by 2.8%. EBay has said that
:04:35. > :04:47.losing PayPal would disrupt its business synergies. EBay bought
:04:48. > :04:52.PayPal in 2000 and 241 $5 billion. The biggest trade union in South
:04:53. > :05:01.Africa's platinum industry has called a strike over pay. The action
:05:02. > :05:04.will start today, halting production of the world's three largest
:05:05. > :05:09.platinum producers. The union says 70,000 members will begin indefinite
:05:10. > :05:13.action from the start of their morning shift. They want their
:05:14. > :05:21.current pay rates to be doubled. At this time of the year, the ski
:05:22. > :05:40.resort of De Boss is inundated -- Davos. There are more than 300
:05:41. > :05:45.parties to go to. , Thursday evening, this area will be
:05:46. > :05:54.chock-a-block with people, trying to hand over their coats. This is a
:05:55. > :05:58.function factory. This hotel is wall-to-wall functions, receptions.
:05:59. > :06:03.There is another one going on down there, and you can see they are
:06:04. > :06:07.preparing at the moment. Tonight will be Korean night. Further down
:06:08. > :06:11.the corridor, you can see the souvenirs that the Koreans will be
:06:12. > :06:16.handing over. The area manager for the hotel is here. Let's go in as
:06:17. > :06:21.the preparations are under way for Korean evening. How many functions
:06:22. > :06:28.like this do you have in five days? Over 350, in five days. There are
:06:29. > :06:32.about 25 meeting rooms, 44 officers, three large meeting rooms like this.
:06:33. > :06:38.We have transformed this into different sections. How many events
:06:39. > :06:44.will you have in here in one-day? The main day is Thursday, and we
:06:45. > :06:52.will have about six in here. In here? Yes, and each day we had to
:06:53. > :06:56.rebuild it according to what the client wants. It is a logistical
:06:57. > :07:04.challenge. What about the normal Hotel services? Not tonight, not
:07:05. > :07:11.tomorrow night. These offers us. The massage parlour is taken over by a
:07:12. > :07:15.consultancy firm. Let me take you to this mean pool. Every single square
:07:16. > :07:20.metre of this hotel is being used up. This is this mean pool, and this
:07:21. > :07:28.is the Jacuzzi, all covered over. Just as well, it is not the moment
:07:29. > :07:31.to go diving if you are feeling a little stressed that the World
:07:32. > :07:35.Economic Forum. There is one message I think everybody needs to take
:07:36. > :07:42.away. You may be enjoying a drink, but the way of surviving all of this
:07:43. > :07:46.is to put something to your lips, enjoy it, then move onto the next
:07:47. > :07:50.party, it is you have to be up for 5am for breakfast the next day.
:07:51. > :07:54.For all those wheeling and dealing is and the parties, you can look at
:07:55. > :07:59.our website. What about green energy? With the
:08:00. > :08:03.rapidly growing and industrialising economies here in Southeast Asia,
:08:04. > :08:07.some companies are looking to this region to invest in green
:08:08. > :08:16.alternatives like biomass. I spoke with the chief executive of E
:08:17. > :08:20.renewable energy company, and asked how this could be an economically
:08:21. > :08:24.sustainable process. I would say that is the most relevant, the
:08:25. > :08:30.possibility to aggregate large volumes of biomass, because the
:08:31. > :08:35.conversion process is an industrial process. They are economies of
:08:36. > :08:40.scale, and there is a value in having rather large plants. That
:08:41. > :08:47.means that the biomass available to the plant needs to be available in
:08:48. > :08:59.large quantities at a reasonably low cost. Biomass is not a real
:09:00. > :09:02.commodity, it is light, it is not really totally interchangeable, and
:09:03. > :09:08.therefore it has to be sourced or produced rather locally to the
:09:09. > :09:15.plant. If you take a look at the controversy surrounding biomass, it
:09:16. > :09:19.has been stated that it is taking away food from the mouths of people,
:09:20. > :09:24.because these are corn products, palm oil products, that you can
:09:25. > :09:28.actually use to feed the world. So how much is it true, and have you
:09:29. > :09:33.address at? I think without technology, we can address the issue
:09:34. > :09:49.under three different perspectives. First of all, it can be obtained by
:09:50. > :09:53.agricultural methods that don't use land at all, because it is by
:09:54. > :10:03.products. Secondly, the process can use dedicated crops. In several
:10:04. > :10:10.circumstances, this crop can be grown on what is called marginal
:10:11. > :10:17.land, which is not really suitable for food production. A quick look at
:10:18. > :10:24.the markets, because you are seeing most in decline. The Nikkei has gone
:10:25. > :10:30.a little lower, as a reaction to the manufacturing data that we saw from
:10:31. > :10:35.HSBC showing a slight contraction in that. A lot of analysts and
:10:36. > :10:41.investors are worried. Thank you for watching.
:10:42. > :10:52.Our top stories: The opening day of the Syrian peace conference has
:10:53. > :11:00.highlighted a huge gulf tween President Assad's government and
:11:01. > :11:03.rebel groups. The UN Secretary General told the two sides the time
:11:04. > :11:05.has come full earnest