:00:00. > :00:00.their debit cards free time on Sunday. There were also problems
:00:00. > :00:19.with cash machines. Japan has seen worse than expected
:00:20. > :00:23.trade numbers in December, leaving the country with a record annual
:00:24. > :00:27.trade deficit. A ban on beef, we find out more
:00:28. > :00:35.about a Russian ban on beef products from Australia which comes into
:00:36. > :00:42.effect today. Welcome to Asia Business Report.
:00:43. > :00:46.We start today with Japan where worse than expected trade numbers
:00:47. > :00:50.are out. The country is hitting a record trade deficit in 2014.
:00:51. > :00:57.Exports rising less than expected from a year earlier and imports
:00:58. > :01:08.surging 25% due to a week again and rising demand for fossil fuel
:01:09. > :01:11.imports. To tell us more about the state of the country's economy we
:01:12. > :01:21.are joined by Rupert Wingfield Hayes in Tokyo. I think there are two
:01:22. > :01:25.things going on here. There is a struggle shift going on from Japan
:01:26. > :01:31.being a creditor nation to being a debtor nation. That is part of a
:01:32. > :01:32.long-term shift away from manufacturing, the hollowing out of
:01:33. > :01:36.certain manufacturing sectors are being moved to China. Japan is
:01:37. > :01:41.exporting less than it used to. There is also the factor of the yen
:01:42. > :01:46.weakening dramatically last year. A very deliberate policy by the
:01:47. > :01:50.government to boost exports. It has boosted exports by around 10% but
:01:51. > :01:55.not by enough to make for the huge increase in costs particularly
:01:56. > :01:57.energy. This is really tied to the shuttering of Japan's nuclear-power
:01:58. > :02:03.plants after the Fukushima disaster. Japan is now the biggest importer of
:02:04. > :02:11.natural gas, it is a huge importer of oil and coal as well. These costs
:02:12. > :02:14.have gone up very dramatically in the last year because of the weaker
:02:15. > :02:21.yen. What is the government aiming to do about the problem? We have
:02:22. > :02:24.been having a mix, we have seen the Prime Minister trying to
:02:25. > :02:29.aggressively to be led economy can help? They are hoping that this...
:02:30. > :02:36.That there is a lag here. Energy costs are going up immediately
:02:37. > :02:41.because of the fall in the value of the yen. Exports will take some time
:02:42. > :02:47.to pick up. The hope is that this year, we will see a much more
:02:48. > :02:48.dramatic pickup. The other thing there that they are obviously
:02:49. > :02:52.talking about is a need to get power plants back on. And also to
:02:53. > :02:56.diversify and innovate in Japan's energy sector. Liberalising the
:02:57. > :02:59.energy sector, getting more renewable energy generated here in
:03:00. > :03:02.Japan. Rupert Wingfield Hayes in Tokyo.
:03:03. > :03:05.Staying with Japan, the country's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is
:03:06. > :03:12.continuing his visit to India today. Mr Abe was a guest of honour at the
:03:13. > :03:19.Republic Day parade on Sunday and is joined by a large business
:03:20. > :03:25.delegation from Japan. Japan also announced a loan of $2 billion for
:03:26. > :03:30.the Delhi Metro. Mr Abe's visit marks the ongoing efforts to
:03:31. > :03:35.strengthen economic and political ties between the two countries. Our
:03:36. > :03:38.Delhi reporter explains what is bringing the two countries together.
:03:39. > :03:44.India Republic Day celebrations are seen as a show of might, troops out
:03:45. > :03:46.on display with the latest weapons. More than any kind of military
:03:47. > :03:50.muscle, India needs strategic partners. Here, Japan feels like a
:03:51. > :03:55.natural choice. Both countries have territorial
:03:56. > :04:03.disputes with China and have agreed to boost security ties. India which
:04:04. > :04:07.fought a war with China in the 1960s has been building its military
:04:08. > :04:18.presence on its disputed border to counter a military buildup by China.
:04:19. > :04:22.Recently, Indian and Japanese navy ships has conducted the first ever
:04:23. > :04:28.joint exercises. Economic ties are also improving. Delhi has co-branded
:04:29. > :04:34.economic pacts with Tokyo is the biggest trade agreement India has
:04:35. > :04:35.entered into with any country. Japan's Suzuki Motors has its
:04:36. > :04:41.largest unit in India and is currently the top carmaker. Many
:04:42. > :04:42.feel the potential is much larger with India needing more than $1
:04:43. > :04:48.trillion of spending on infrastructure sector, Japan has
:04:49. > :04:54.been a steady partner. Investing in various projects. The Delhi Metro
:04:55. > :04:54.railway system is one example. The government of Japan has contributed
:04:55. > :05:00.more than half the cost of the project so far. The Delhi Mumbai
:05:01. > :05:03.industrial corridor, a $90 billion project which connects the cities
:05:04. > :05:17.has been funded mainly by the Japanese government and industrial.
:05:18. > :05:21.The World Bank has pledged $2 billion into developing a into
:05:22. > :05:27.Myanmar for projects including energy supply and healthcare.
:05:28. > :05:32.Myanmar has been closed off to much of the outside world for many years.
:05:33. > :05:33.It is struggling to rebuild its economy. The bank seized lending to
:05:34. > :05:41.Burma when they defaulted on payments years ago.
:05:42. > :05:49.Samsung has reached an agreement with Google. The deal extends to
:05:50. > :05:57.deals already owned by the technology giant. No financial
:05:58. > :06:05.details were released. Over to Australia where a Russian
:06:06. > :06:10.ban on beef products from Australia comes into effect today. Russia says
:06:11. > :06:10.it has found traces of a growth stimulant in beef offal from
:06:11. > :06:14.Australia. That is a stimulant prohibited in Russia. There is no
:06:15. > :06:19.international consensus on the stimulant. The ban will affect
:06:20. > :06:22.exports worth more than eight million dollars a year. Our
:06:23. > :06:26.correspondent is in Sydney. I started by asking how worried
:06:27. > :06:32.Australia's beef producers were. The producers are worried about they
:06:33. > :06:42.don't know how long this ban will last for. Russian authorities say
:06:43. > :06:46.that they found traces of trenbalone in shipments of Australian beef
:06:47. > :06:50.byproducts at the end of last year. The ban comes into force today and
:06:51. > :06:56.what we are hearing in Australia is that the Department of agriculture
:06:57. > :07:02.here is working very closely with meat producers to try to impress
:07:03. > :07:02.upon them the very strict guidelines that Russia does have in place.
:07:03. > :07:08.Trenbalone is allowed to be imported into other countries but not Russia.
:07:09. > :07:14.That is why Australian beef byproducts will be banned from
:07:15. > :07:15.importation into Russia starting from today. What is the reaction be
:07:16. > :07:19.like from cattle farmers, beef traders, Australia in general? You
:07:20. > :07:22.have to remember that farming is incredibly important to the
:07:23. > :07:26.Australian economy. Australia is the world's third-largest beef producer
:07:27. > :07:30.after the United States and Brazil. This particular trade in full and
:07:31. > :07:35.byproducts of beef is worth in excess of $8 million each year.
:07:36. > :07:41.About 30 Australian firms are permitted to send beef products to
:07:42. > :07:50.Russia so they are very nervous that this very lucrative trade has been
:07:51. > :07:50.suspended. Russia has been trying to impress upon Australia that this is
:07:51. > :07:58.a temporary ban on that when it is happy, all things being equal, the
:07:59. > :07:58.trade should resume and of course Australia, the Australian
:07:59. > :08:03.agricultural authorities are extremely keen to get this trade
:08:04. > :08:04.reignited, given that as we mentioned for the overall importance
:08:05. > :08:19.of agriculture to the Australian economy.
:08:20. > :08:26.How do you feel about the money you invest? Which assets are you putting
:08:27. > :08:30.your money into? These are questions that will be put to Asian investors
:08:31. > :08:34.in a new survey. The Philippines has the most optimistic investors are
:08:35. > :08:38.helped by the strong economic growth in the country. Investors in Hong
:08:39. > :08:41.Kong are the most negative especially toward shares and
:08:42. > :08:50.property. Optimism has improved the most in Japan with recent gains in
:08:51. > :08:57.the stock market. We have seen good economic numbers
:08:58. > :09:04.coming out of Japan. The Hong Kong story is really very much around
:09:05. > :09:09.property. There has been some concern that property prices are too
:09:10. > :09:17.high. The results reflect that, the opinion of people. The Philippines
:09:18. > :09:23.is a reflection of good GDP growth. Is it really a reflection of that
:09:24. > :09:30.market? Generally the Philippines... We have seen an
:09:31. > :09:37.influx in the last few months. It is also new to our survey. What is
:09:38. > :09:43.striking is also you found that a lot of people are keeping their
:09:44. > :09:49.money. They are hanging on to their cash. Why do you think that is? I
:09:50. > :09:58.think it is a reflection on concerns around volatility and also they do
:09:59. > :10:01.not know where to put their money. You are right, 40% on average of
:10:02. > :10:06.investors around Asia hit their money in cash. That equates to about
:10:07. > :10:12.21 months salary. A number of times more than most investors require to
:10:13. > :10:19.cover their day emergencies. Let's take a look at those markets because
:10:20. > :10:22.they are all in negative territory. In Asia, we saw the yen rising to
:10:23. > :10:27.seven-week highs against the US dollar. That has taken a huge toll
:10:28. > :10:42.Japanese markets you can see down 300 points. That is for this edition
:10:43. > :10:50.of Asia Business Report. Thanks for watching. You're watching ABC news
:10:51. > :10:51.and reminder of our top stories. The UN and to Syria says the government