:00:00. > :00:00.object in dealing with the flood. 16 severe warnings are in place. Now on
:00:00. > :00:13.BBC News all the latest business news live from Singapore.
:00:14. > :00:27.We go to the Singapore Air Show to find out more about the first deals
:00:28. > :00:40.may -- being made. We kick off with the first
:00:41. > :00:43.congressional testimony of Janet Yellen is becoming chair of the US
:00:44. > :00:50.Federal reserve. She made it clear to the central bank is on track in
:00:51. > :00:53.pulling back in stimulus programme. It will continue to gradually reduce
:00:54. > :00:58.the amount of money it pumps into the US economy as long as there is
:00:59. > :01:03.no slowdown. US stocks rallied overnight on her statement with the
:01:04. > :01:09.Dow Jones and NASDAQ also gaining. Ms Yellin 's comments come despite a
:01:10. > :01:18.rocky start to the year that saw a sharp sell-off.
:01:19. > :01:22.It has been a little over a week since Janet Yellen was sworn in as
:01:23. > :01:29.chair of America's central bank. She is already made the track to Capitol
:01:30. > :01:36.Hill. The US has seen some weak economic data. Including some
:01:37. > :01:39.lacklustre unemployment numbers. As the weak jobs report caused you to
:01:40. > :01:48.consider slowing the pace of the Fed 's tapering? I was surprised that
:01:49. > :01:53.the report is in December and January, the pace of job creation
:01:54. > :02:02.was running under what I had anticipated. But we have to be very
:02:03. > :02:05.careful not to jump to conclusions. The Fed believes that the US economy
:02:06. > :02:10.may still be on the path to recovery. The gradual reduction in
:02:11. > :02:17.asset purchases is wreaking havoc in emerging markets as investors pull
:02:18. > :02:18.money out of the window been watching closely the recent
:02:19. > :02:27.volatility in global financial markets. Our sense is that at this
:02:28. > :02:32.stage these developments do not pose a substantial risk to the US
:02:33. > :02:37.economic outlook. We will, of course continue to monitor the situation.
:02:38. > :02:43.The Federal reserve believes it is primary responsibility is to this
:02:44. > :02:47.country 's economy. While it is watching very closely what happens
:02:48. > :02:50.in emerging markets, unless it negatively affect America's economic
:02:51. > :03:00.recovery, we can expect the Federal reserve to stay the course.
:03:01. > :03:04.As you had, the House of Representatives have voted to
:03:05. > :03:11.suspend the debt limit until March 2015. The move raises the government
:03:12. > :03:16.is to avoid a default at the end of the month. The outcome is a victory
:03:17. > :03:25.for President Obama who has lobbied for weeks to have the debt ceiling
:03:26. > :03:32.reached. Positive reactions from Asian markets regarding Janet Yellen
:03:33. > :03:46.'s testimony. Currently they are all in positive territory.
:03:47. > :03:55.In other business News making headlines, fresh official trade
:03:56. > :03:59.numbers from China revealed. The countries exported in January rose
:04:00. > :04:05.by just over ten and a half percent compared to last year. That is well
:04:06. > :04:09.above most forecast. The Asian giant imports also exceeded expectations,
:04:10. > :04:14.growing by 10% and leaving the country with a surplus of $32
:04:15. > :04:22.billion. In Australia, one of the big lenders, Commonwealth Bank
:04:23. > :04:29.gained 14% to about $3.8 billion. The results of the period came in
:04:30. > :04:32.better than analysts expectations. The results show that the bank is
:04:33. > :04:41.focused on its long-term priorities. Staying with banking and
:04:42. > :04:49.to the UK lending giant, Barclays. It says it is set to cut 12,000
:04:50. > :04:54.jobs. The bank has a global staff including teams in Asia. The staff
:04:55. > :05:00.cuts come at a time when the bank is increasing its staff bonuses. If
:05:01. > :05:12.voters pool is rising by 10% to nearly $4 billion. One of the things
:05:13. > :05:18.that we do when we look at bonuses is we have to be competitive on pay
:05:19. > :05:23.and we have to pay for performance. We operate in countries from
:05:24. > :05:28.Singapore to San Francisco and we compete for talent in global markets
:05:29. > :05:31.so we have to be competitive and our judgement was this year, it was
:05:32. > :05:39.important that we increase the bogus pull by 10%. The profits are down
:05:40. > :05:45.for the reasons that I said. It is in the interest of our shareholders
:05:46. > :05:55.that we pay the compensation that we are. People don't understand that?
:05:56. > :06:00.Aside our investment, to about businesses have done really well.
:06:01. > :06:13.Aaron Baddeley banking division grew by 3%. Our fixed income business was
:06:14. > :06:14.down. We have paid for performance as it is aligned with our
:06:15. > :06:32.principles. On the surface of it, it raises a
:06:33. > :06:38.number of questions at a time when topline and bottom-line numbers are
:06:39. > :06:47.down. As you mentioned, Barclays is in the process of transition. A
:06:48. > :06:53.transformation. The CEO and board of directors obviously have to get what
:06:54. > :07:00.this means for the business. They are trying to grow their business
:07:01. > :07:10.and retain staff. He mentioned at one point 2 billion in restructuring
:07:11. > :07:15.costs. It is substantially higher. With this mindset there has been a
:07:16. > :07:17.lot of backlash against banks and their higher paid since the
:07:18. > :07:23.financial crisis in the UK. Do people in financial centres like
:07:24. > :07:34.Hong Kong share this feeling? In Singapore, we have observed that the
:07:35. > :07:42.culture in Asia is much more conservative. The first deals to be
:07:43. > :07:48.made at Asia's largest aviation event, the Singapore Air Show has
:07:49. > :07:57.just been revealed. Airbuses has said that it had orders for its
:07:58. > :08:12.super jumbo worth about $8.3 billion. Other deals announced this
:08:13. > :08:19.week. Myanmar 's national carrier also announced a deal worth nearly
:08:20. > :08:26.$1 billion. I spoke earlier to our reporter who is at the airshow.
:08:27. > :08:34.Myanmar is seen as having huge potential. Some even describing it
:08:35. > :08:37.as the next frontier in aviation. Myanmar has had some of the highest
:08:38. > :08:47.passenger rates in Asia. There are many challenges. Thank you, Andrew
:08:48. > :08:55.for joining us. There are already eight carriers in Myanmar. Is there
:08:56. > :08:59.a risk of overcapacity? Until recently, it has been a small
:09:00. > :09:04.market. There were a number of small airlines that are looking to grow
:09:05. > :09:10.with the opening up of the market we are seeing exciting developments. It
:09:11. > :09:16.is very competitive. Do you think with the domestic market being so
:09:17. > :09:18.fierce but there are foreign players coming on board. Do you think the
:09:19. > :09:28.country and its infrastructure are ready? It is a fantastic tourist
:09:29. > :09:33.destination. The truth numbers are growing rapidly but the key
:09:34. > :09:36.challenges are, while the infrastructure keep up? That
:09:37. > :09:39.involves new investment and the Myanmar government is talking to new
:09:40. > :09:45.investors and bringing foreign expertise. The potential is there
:09:46. > :09:53.but it needs to be carefully co-ordinated to make sure we can
:09:54. > :09:59.satisfy that demand effectively. Very exciting times for the Asia
:10:00. > :10:05.Pacific, particularly Myanmar. The challenge will now be will be
:10:06. > :10:12.infrastructure be able to keep pace with the growing demands? We will be
:10:13. > :10:17.bringing you the latest from this major airshow events throughout the
:10:18. > :10:21.day and this week. You can go to our website for the latest news. Today,
:10:22. > :10:30.the competition to have the best in-flight entertainment. With that,
:10:31. > :10:41.we and that addition of Asia Business Report.
:10:42. > :10:52.Officials from South Korea have left for the border village of Panmunjom
:10:53. > :10:56.for talks with North Korea. Hundreds of civilians are still trapped in
:10:57. > :11:02.Homs with attempts to them out on the besieged centre so far failing.
:11:03. > :11:03.Many of the country's top scientists are warning that in some communities
:11:04. > :11:05.the floodwaters