:00:00. > :00:00.cost businesses south of the border hundreds of millions of pounds. Now
:00:00. > :00:16.on BBC News, all the latest business news live from Singapore. Big jump
:00:17. > :00:20.in earnings, we look at what is driving strong results of the
:00:21. > :00:26.largest mining company, BHP Billiton. Old world against new
:00:27. > :00:39.world, the former head of the global trade organisation ways in on
:00:40. > :00:46.today's round of trade negotiations. We start off with BHP Billiton, the
:00:47. > :00:50.mining giant posting an 83% rise in earnings for the months to
:00:51. > :00:55.December. Net profit soaring to $8 billion. Due to strong production
:00:56. > :00:59.across the iron ore, coal and petroleum operations. The result was
:01:00. > :01:04.above expectations. It is optimistic about its future prospects. It sees
:01:05. > :01:10.the global economy strengthening over the next 2014 financial year.
:01:11. > :01:17.At a more moderate face of close though. Look at the latest results
:01:18. > :01:25.shows cost cuts played a part in roosting its earnings. We talk to
:01:26. > :01:33.resort analyst. There is no doubt, the sector has suffered, especially
:01:34. > :01:37.weaker prices. That has seen companies like BHP Billiton turned
:01:38. > :01:44.to a less palatable approach of generating profits, to cut cost. For
:01:45. > :01:50.the half it has reported, it pulled out $1 billion in cost savings.
:01:51. > :01:55.Going forward, it is expect in it has $4 billion of embedded savings
:01:56. > :02:00.now. Built into their operations. We do think they have a very big tip on
:02:01. > :02:05.that side of the equation. Do you think we could see more cost saving
:02:06. > :02:10.measures from BHP Billiton to make it leaner and meaner, and there are
:02:11. > :02:17.been reports of its global thermal core business? That it may unload
:02:18. > :02:22.it. We do think that through the rest of 2014 they will be continuing
:02:23. > :02:27.to strive to take costs out of the system. It does become little more
:02:28. > :02:31.difficult once you start initiating those activities because you get all
:02:32. > :02:37.the easy costs first. Because there was quite a long period of growth
:02:38. > :02:40.for the business, they will be able to actually continue to become more
:02:41. > :02:49.leaner through the rest of this year. As China still a weak market
:02:50. > :02:56.in terms of demand for its iron ore and other resource product? No, the
:02:57. > :03:02.exact opposite is happening. If you look at the January results from
:03:03. > :03:06.China, they imported a record 86 million tonnes of iron ore for the
:03:07. > :03:12.month. An annual record of 846 million tonnes. We saw in the last
:03:13. > :03:18.two recorded months, records of iron or delivery. We think that will slow
:03:19. > :03:26.little bit but the momentum of growth in iron ore imports will
:03:27. > :03:33.continue through 2014. Staying with commodities, Alcoa will be shutting
:03:34. > :03:37.down three facilities in stray which will lead the 1,000 staff pleaded --
:03:38. > :03:42.losing jobs. The aluminium giant said a smelter in project will will
:03:43. > :03:47.close in August and true mills in New South Wales will shut down by
:03:48. > :03:52.the end of the year. The shutdowns and closures will cost the company
:03:53. > :03:56.$250 million. Toyota has resumed operations at three plants are macro
:03:57. > :04:02.Japan which were suspended due to heavy snow which disrupted the
:04:03. > :04:09.supply of parts. It is the plants with a make the prius hybrid that is
:04:10. > :04:11.where activity will be suspended. Heavy snow has disrupted the
:04:12. > :04:20.delivery of goods and closed roads and suspended car production at
:04:21. > :04:24.Honda, Suzuki and Subaru. The world Trade Organisation only exists to
:04:25. > :04:28.negotiate reductions in tariffs and solve trade disputes. One proposed
:04:29. > :04:33.deal, the transpacific partnership is proving difficult to agree on,
:04:34. > :04:40.the Doha round of negotiations has dragged on for a decade. Significant
:04:41. > :04:46.progress was made at sea meeting in Bali in December. Earlier I asked
:04:47. > :04:51.the former chief of the organisation and asked how progress at Bulli
:04:52. > :04:57.could be changed into a proper trading agreement? The agenda needs
:04:58. > :05:02.to adjust to the new realities of how world trade is happening today
:05:03. > :05:07.with the global supply chain. There is also other ways of opening trade.
:05:08. > :05:15.Bilateral, regional, transpacific partnership, the treaty between
:05:16. > :05:21.ASEAN, Corey Anderson and. The trans- Atlantic partnership. How
:05:22. > :05:27.these various styles of it under the roof of world trade, is an open
:05:28. > :05:33.question. Will it all come in and synergise. Should not be just be one
:05:34. > :05:39.deal to do away with the PPP and all this bilateral agreement? It does
:05:40. > :05:45.not matter what the colour of there is. Provided it catches mice. What
:05:46. > :05:51.has happened for the last 15 years, you have had bilateral, regional,
:05:52. > :05:58.market opening, so far, it has synergised. It may not be
:05:59. > :06:04.aesthetically right, it is a bit difficult to understand. But it
:06:05. > :06:07.works. The question whether in the future bilateral, regional,
:06:08. > :06:13.multilateral will converge the way they have in the past is an open
:06:14. > :06:19.question. What you have to deal with right now... . Different from the
:06:20. > :06:24.past. In the past you had to get rid of tariffs, in the new world of
:06:25. > :06:31.trade, you have to get rid of differences in regular Tory issues.
:06:32. > :06:38.That is more complex. When do you see a trade deal being forged? We
:06:39. > :06:42.will not have the old-style of 20 topics being agreed together. We
:06:43. > :06:50.will have a more progressive issue by issue progress. Again, that is
:06:51. > :06:54.what is needed. Not least because much more many countries than in the
:06:55. > :07:02.past are involved in international trade. US computer maker Dell went
:07:03. > :07:06.private last year and now the company is focusing on its strategy
:07:07. > :07:09.for Asia and specifically its gaming business to counter the global
:07:10. > :07:16.decline we have been seeing in demand for personal computers. The
:07:17. > :07:19.court of the Vice President for Dell Asia-Pacific to find out how they
:07:20. > :07:26.are trying to revive the war tunes. We are standing that an alien with
:07:27. > :07:29.Arena in Singapore. An attempt of Dell diversified into the gaming
:07:30. > :07:35.business. How successful has that been? We are the leaders in gaming
:07:36. > :07:41.worldwide. We have the best product is, we have this alien we are stored
:07:42. > :07:45.here in Singapore. We'll so have stalls in China, Japan, Australia,
:07:46. > :07:51.all over the world. We continue to invest in us and we believe we get
:07:52. > :07:55.the best products in the market. Let us talk to one of these gamers. How
:07:56. > :08:00.do you like playing on the systems against other games you play? I have
:08:01. > :08:06.tried the top brands, and I prefer that I can put all my games on
:08:07. > :08:10.maximum city -- settings with no problems at all. I am really
:08:11. > :08:15.satisfied. Are you positive as part of your business will grow? We are
:08:16. > :08:20.continuing to make investment, we will have a gaming console that will
:08:21. > :08:23.be coming out later this year. It will enable people to have the
:08:24. > :08:28.experience they have here at the gaming arena in the living room.
:08:29. > :08:32.Imagine running a company catering to customers who are anything but
:08:33. > :08:39.loyal, fickle macro tastes and constantly the move. Business is
:08:40. > :08:41.booming for entrepreneurs who sell products to the expatriate
:08:42. > :08:46.community. Today we focus on one businessmen cashing in on the rich,
:08:47. > :08:54.single and lonely expatriate in the citystate. His business generated
:08:55. > :09:04.$200,000 in revenue in the first year. He tells us how he became part
:09:05. > :09:09.of the ex- patriot economy. We saw a really big gap in the travel
:09:10. > :09:13.industry market. Especially for young professionals in Southeast
:09:14. > :09:18.Asia. You take Hong Kong, Singapore or Bangkok, a lot of experts come
:09:19. > :09:22.there, they do not know anybody they craved new experiences and to meet
:09:23. > :09:27.new people. This is always a challenge to start a business from
:09:28. > :09:30.scratch. It may be a cliche, but it is a rollercoaster at the beginning.
:09:31. > :09:36.The challenge was to get the funding. Get somebody believing in
:09:37. > :09:40.you. Eight out of ten start-ups fail. If you invest in something
:09:41. > :09:43.like this, you have to have a passion for the product and
:09:44. > :09:50.division. It is already a good feeling. Out of the vision, and a
:09:51. > :09:54.little bubble you created, you have established something which pays a
:09:55. > :09:59.living and which you enjoy doing. It is your own thing. Everybody thinks
:10:00. > :10:04.I had to create this life, they see me at all these parties and travel
:10:05. > :10:09.getaways where we are on the yachts, beautiful weather, useful exclusive
:10:10. > :10:13.locations. But what they do not see as me being in the office at 2am
:10:14. > :10:17.with my business partners and working on new concepts and going
:10:18. > :10:22.through the numbers. That is the life of being an entrepreneur. Hard
:10:23. > :10:29.work, but if it pays off, and you enjoy what you do, you did not mind
:10:30. > :10:42.doing it. Thank you for watching. Sport today is next.
:10:43. > :10:45.United Nations experts say North Korea's leaders should face
:10:46. > :10:48.prosecution for alleged mass atrocities against their own people
:10:49. > :10:51.comparable to Nazi war crimes. South African miners are due to appear in
:10:52. > :10:54.court just after being rescued from a blocked mine. Up to 200 more
:10:55. > :10:57.illegal workers could still be underground The debate over Scottish
:10:58. > :10:58.independence has turned into a war of