:00:00. > :00:14.and high winds to come. Time for the Asia Business Report
:00:15. > :00:17.from Singapore. Thailand gets ready for national
:00:18. > :00:22.elections on Sunday despite protests and ongoing calls for the opposition
:00:23. > :00:39.to stop it. This is the Asia Business Report. As
:00:40. > :00:44.you have been hearing, elections in Thailand are scheduled to go ahead
:00:45. > :00:48.on Sunday. That is despite a boycott by the opposition and thousands of
:00:49. > :00:53.protesters calling for the polls to be stopped in addition to millions
:00:54. > :01:01.of dollars in lost business, three months of demonstrations have also
:01:02. > :01:05.impacted the government's work. Protesters closed ministries and
:01:06. > :01:11.government agencies. I spoke with Tony Nash about businesses and
:01:12. > :01:19.worries around elections. Businesses are worried about exports, the
:01:20. > :01:28.supply chain being impeded. What we are seeing is the protests in
:01:29. > :01:34.Bangkok. The areas outside Bangkok should not be disrupted outside of
:01:35. > :01:39.some extreme event. But the protests are still isolated in the capital
:01:40. > :01:42.and it has not really spread. That is why businessmen are still quite
:01:43. > :01:50.hopeful that we could see a resolution. That is right. The
:01:51. > :01:53.resolution we will likely see from a political scenario is the military
:01:54. > :01:59.coming into force the parties to talk and come to some copper mines.
:02:00. > :02:08.The election will go forward. -- compromise. A number of seats are
:02:09. > :02:15.not being contested. The Parliament has to have 95% of seats to be
:02:16. > :02:23.filled in order to start. Short of a military coup or judicial coup, this
:02:24. > :02:28.will be a long, drawnout process. We will be speaking with Tony Nash
:02:29. > :02:33.again on Monday after the election results.
:02:34. > :02:39.Japan's consumer prices rose in December. The economy has been
:02:40. > :02:46.plagued by 15 years of deflation and falling prices. But the price of
:02:47. > :02:57.fresh goods increased by 1.2% in December. Up by 1% from many
:02:58. > :03:03.expectations. The job market is improving, with unemployment falling
:03:04. > :03:07.slightly in December. Shares in Australia's big department
:03:08. > :03:12.store chain David Jones are rising as much as 4.5% in Sydney trade
:03:13. > :03:21.after rejecting a $1.2 billion merger proposal from a rival group.
:03:22. > :03:26.David Jones says it was considering a takeover, but the transaction
:03:27. > :03:33.would have substantial regulatory risks.
:03:34. > :03:35.Myanmar's government has officially signed licensing agreements with two
:03:36. > :03:41.foreign companies to build and run new mobile phone and data networks.
:03:42. > :03:43.The country's telecommunications infrastructure is poor and
:03:44. > :03:49.investment is expected to run into the lives of dollars. Our
:03:50. > :03:55.correspondent caught up with one of the companies that want the
:03:56. > :03:59.contract. At the moment, Myanmar has just one
:04:00. > :04:04.mobile phone operator. It is owned by the government. The service is
:04:05. > :04:11.pretty dire. That could all be about to change. It may companies have
:04:12. > :04:14.signed a licensing agreement with the government. Sochi that may
:04:15. > :04:25.change, it has taken six months to get to
:04:26. > :04:31.this agreement. Is that a sign of how difficult it is to do business?
:04:32. > :04:36.Actually, it is a sign of how professional everybody is being. We
:04:37. > :04:41.wanted to make sure that we knew the exact framework. We have been busy.
:04:42. > :04:53.We have got a lot of people on the ground. More of -- than half of them
:04:54. > :05:00.are from Myanmar. At the moment it is thought only 5 million Burmese
:05:01. > :05:06.people have a mobile phone. That is obviously going to change rapidly.
:05:07. > :05:12.For you, getting licence must be a licence to print money. It is a
:05:13. > :05:16.historic occasion for us as a company. For the people of Myanmar,
:05:17. > :05:20.it is an opportunity for them to have access to the latest service.
:05:21. > :05:24.The government challenged us in the bidding process to come up with the
:05:25. > :05:31.latest technology. We are building a network from scratch. There is a
:05:32. > :05:35.huge demand. It is 60 million people in the country where very few people
:05:36. > :05:40.have joint services. This is one of the world's last frontiers for
:05:41. > :05:49.building telecommunications. We're thrilled to be part of it. You
:05:50. > :05:54.mentioned building a 3G network. Some people might be asking, why
:05:55. > :06:03.waste your time? 3G is a future network for Myanmar. We will be able
:06:04. > :06:06.to upgrade that later. There are calling Myanmar one of the final
:06:07. > :06:13.frontiers for the telecommunications industry, and 2014 could be the year
:06:14. > :06:15.that everything changes. Two companies launching their networks.
:06:16. > :06:22.The race is on to get the networks up and running.
:06:23. > :06:25.Many countries across Asia are celebrating the Chinese New Year,
:06:26. > :06:34.which starts today. The festival is a busy time for those in the
:06:35. > :06:38.business. Handcrafted item to mind is on the wane. One family business
:06:39. > :06:47.that has been going on for 80 years says the future is not so bright. It
:06:48. > :06:54.is mid-morning. This man is leading a special order for a temple to give
:06:55. > :07:05.thanks to the gods. They take hours to make and not much longer to be
:07:06. > :07:14.reduced to a pal of ash. They are made of the ground at branches of
:07:15. > :07:18.the cinnamon tree. 15 years ago they were handcrafted. Today the clay is
:07:19. > :07:23.put into a mould, and paint comes from the use of a spray gun. It is
:07:24. > :07:28.all part of trying to ensure that an 80 -year-old business survives.
:07:29. > :07:36.Stephen and his brothers run the business. We love it. There is
:07:37. > :07:45.something skill that you cannot find anywhere else. The brothers learned
:07:46. > :07:50.the trade from their father, who came to Singapore in the 1930s. The
:07:51. > :07:58.business supported a family of 12 in its heyday. We worked and lived
:07:59. > :08:13.together. Everybody had to come in and help. You can see your parents
:08:14. > :08:16.working. Even in school. Now the rules have changed. The clay is
:08:17. > :08:21.mixed in a workshop far from the family home. And the more lucrative
:08:22. > :08:28.giant sticks have been banned on environmental grounds. There are
:08:29. > :08:35.cheap imports to compete with. The family has cut costs and diversify
:08:36. > :08:41.to, but it is not enough. The family wants a more comfortable life. We
:08:42. > :08:48.are not too interested. We do not have the skill to do it. If we
:08:49. > :08:54.continue this, we do not have a guaranteed bright future. The family
:08:55. > :09:01.business simply does not make enough for everybody to live on. I would
:09:02. > :09:05.tell my children, do not do this, you're wasting your time. The family
:09:06. > :09:09.still makes a living out of a product designed to be destroyed.
:09:10. > :09:15.Their own business has enjoyed for much longer. We have so many
:09:16. > :09:26.brothers. And they have so many children. It is a bit sad that they
:09:27. > :09:32.will not be able to carry it on. After 80 years, the clock is ticking
:09:33. > :09:39.on a dying trade. Make sure you take a look at our
:09:40. > :09:45.revamp Asia News homepage, which has more news and features from the Asia
:09:46. > :09:51.region. Let us take a look at the markets. Teams in the open markets
:09:52. > :10:03.during the holidays have been short lived, despite US stocks gaining
:10:04. > :10:11.overnight. The Tokyo market is now down 65 points. Below that support
:10:12. > :10:26.level. Australia is also in positive territory earlier, but is now down
:10:27. > :10:29.by 2.5%. -- three .5%. All Wall Street indexes have been pushed into
:10:30. > :10:39.higher ground. Thank you for investing your time with us. Happy
:10:40. > :10:45.New Year for all of you. Here are the headlines: A fresh
:10:46. > :10:49.appeal hearing in Italy has reinstated the conviction of Amanda
:10:50. > :10:50.Knox and Raffaele Sollecito for the murder of Meredith