:00:00. > 3:59:59fell by 125,000 in the last three months of 2013. Now all the latest
:00:00. > :00:23.business news, live from Singapore. $19 billion. Facebook buys messaging
:00:24. > :00:24.service WhatsApp. Why Walmart is not finding success
:00:25. > :00:36.in China. Hello and welcome to Asia Business
:00:37. > :00:42.Report. I'm Sharanjit Leyl. These start with social networking site
:00:43. > :00:48.Facebook which is buying WhatsApp in cash and stock. The deal is valued
:00:49. > :00:52.at $19 billion. Facebook will pay $4 billion in cash and the rest will be
:00:53. > :01:00.financed by shares. The FICCI includes $3 billion worth of shares
:01:01. > :01:06.for WhatsApp founders and employees. -- the shares include.
:01:07. > :01:15.WhatsApp reportedly has more than 450 million users and handles over
:01:16. > :01:21.10 billion messages daily. Let's break down whether this is a good
:01:22. > :01:26.deal. What do we think? It is an expensive deal but probably
:01:27. > :01:32.necessary. Facebook needs to be where people have conversations,
:01:33. > :01:37.they do that. It is really a third way that Facebook can have people
:01:38. > :01:43.interacting with each other. Over 400 million people. I think it is
:01:44. > :01:46.necessary for them. It's interesting you say it is seen to be fairly good
:01:47. > :01:49.but of course we have seen the shares falling in after-hours
:01:50. > :01:55.trade, when the announcement was first made. Mark Zuckerberg said he
:01:56. > :01:59.has no plans to put advertising on WhatsApp. We note the advertising
:02:00. > :02:04.revenue is important. How will they make money? There's a lot of date
:02:05. > :02:10.information they can get. With Facebook, they know who you are and
:02:11. > :02:14.what you are talking about. -- data. With WhatsApp, it's based on your
:02:15. > :02:18.phone number. Suddenly they can do everything you are talking about on
:02:19. > :02:21.WhatsApp. If they wanted to, they could move back into the Facebook
:02:22. > :02:26.universe. I don't think that's their current plan but that can be done.
:02:27. > :02:30.They want to make sure people are communicating through Facebook, not
:02:31. > :02:35.other people. That also brings up issues around privacy. There has
:02:36. > :02:42.been criticism of Facebook around this in the past. Certainly people
:02:43. > :02:45.are concerned about what they write through Facebook messenger. People
:02:46. > :02:50.are more personal about what they do with their mobile phone. Facebook
:02:51. > :02:53.will have to be careful with how they use that and reassure people.
:02:54. > :03:03.But if all of your friends have WhatsApp, that's what you chat on.
:03:04. > :03:08.The next big competitor is Wii. Thank you.
:03:09. > :03:13.Of course you can get a lot more on that Facebook story and other
:03:14. > :03:21.business headlines from around the world at the BBC website.
:03:22. > :03:25.Japan's trade deficit has ballooned to a record $27 billion to January.
:03:26. > :03:36.The figures show exports rose 95% in January, competitive one year ago.
:03:37. > :03:40.-- 9.5%. There was weakness in the Japanese yen and strong demand for
:03:41. > :03:48.fossil fuels. That made up of the nuclear power the country lost due
:03:49. > :03:53.to the four cushion disaster. Asia's largest retailer wants to
:03:54. > :03:57.sell up to 30%, at a time of the Chinese government is promoting
:03:58. > :04:01.investment in the oil industry. The retail and wholesale division
:04:02. > :04:04.operates more than 30,000 petrol stations across China.
:04:05. > :04:09.Walmart is the world's biggest retailer by volume and is ultimately
:04:10. > :04:14.the vehicle for injecting cheap Chinese goods into the US market.
:04:15. > :04:18.But it hasn't has as much luck selling back to the Chinese. It is
:04:19. > :04:24.due to announce its annual results later today but has already tried to
:04:25. > :04:29.temper expectations, partly due to a number of store closures, some in
:04:30. > :04:33.China. Why has a model that was so successful in big US struggled to
:04:34. > :04:39.catch on in Asia? I have someone from a China market research group.
:04:40. > :04:44.I remember when Walmart still entered -- first entered China about
:04:45. > :04:49.15 years ago. It created a lot of excitement. Here was a great, big,
:04:50. > :04:53.trusted American brand coming into a country where, at the time, about
:04:54. > :05:10.70% of sales were made through Mum and par stores. -- Mom and Pop. The
:05:11. > :05:14.Chinese, who were first attracted to come to Walmart, were affluent
:05:15. > :05:16.consumers. Tony wealthy consumers didn't want to be in a place where
:05:17. > :05:21.they were being bombarded with discount signs, not very nice
:05:22. > :05:26.lighting. What you've seen in the last 3-5 years is a lot of domestic
:05:27. > :05:31.Chinese retailers have moved up value chain and they are really
:05:32. > :05:37.going at the premium end. We expect Walmart is losing market share from
:05:38. > :05:42.about 7.5% down to about 7.2% over a few years. Earlier, you said it was
:05:43. > :05:47.a well-known American trusted brand but is that trust still there? We
:05:48. > :05:51.just saw recently the scandal involving donkey meat, that was
:05:52. > :05:58.painted with fox meat. Is it having problems with its supply chain? If
:05:59. > :06:03.you are a trusted brand and you lose that trust, it's hard to regain it.
:06:04. > :06:06.As you say, they were trying to sell donkey meat that was really fox
:06:07. > :06:14.meat. They've mislabelled pork as organic. So, it's a problem where it
:06:15. > :06:18.you are trusted by the Chinese consumer, if you lose that it's
:06:19. > :06:31.really hard to regain it. I actually think Walmart could bounce back. But
:06:32. > :06:36.the Walmart issue will be tough. Singapore's economy has reported
:06:37. > :06:38.that it has grown over 4% in 2013, beating the government's
:06:39. > :06:42.expectations. Tomorrow, the government will set up its budget
:06:43. > :06:46.for the coming year. Singapore has become one of the wealthiest
:06:47. > :06:49.countries in the world and boasts a greater proportion of millionaires
:06:50. > :06:55.than everywhere else. There is also a less admirable health gap. How do
:06:56. > :07:02.you live in a city so expensive? I met one family finding it tough.
:07:03. > :07:06.With its 5-star hotels, casino and a vibrant financial centre,
:07:07. > :07:10.Singapore's glitzy skyline is the envy of many. It's low taxes and
:07:11. > :07:14.efficient infrastructure has attracted so many of the world's
:07:15. > :07:18.wealthy that, in less than a decade, it has become a playground for the
:07:19. > :07:26.rich. One of them was this man, Anton Casey. He made headlines last
:07:27. > :07:29.month were calling Singaporeans who take public transport poor. The
:07:30. > :07:32.backlash against him on social media was so extreme that he lost his job
:07:33. > :07:37.and fled the country with his family. The life he led was very
:07:38. > :07:42.different to the one experienced by Singaporeans who live here. Here is
:07:43. > :07:47.a part of Singapore that most people don't see. Iron in a block of
:07:48. > :07:53.apartments where each flat averages just around 30 square metres. The
:07:54. > :07:58.families who live here pay rent to the government might depending on
:07:59. > :08:00.how much they can afford. They are Singaporeans struggling on the
:08:01. > :08:08.margins of one of Asia's wealthiest countries. This woman is 29. She
:08:09. > :08:12.lives here with her six children. They get by on groceries, donated by
:08:13. > :08:17.charities, and the government subsidises the children's' education
:08:18. > :08:22.and rent. But the tiny flat has one bedroom and she can't afford a
:08:23. > :08:26.dining table. Edison to treat her daughter's asthma is also out of her
:08:27. > :08:32.reach. She hasn't been able to buy it for months. -- medicine to treat.
:08:33. > :08:37.I don't think I can afford any medical bills. In this house, though
:08:38. > :08:45.one can afford to get sick. -- though one. Our finances are too
:08:46. > :08:49.tight. People having to sleep rough is not something you see regularly
:08:50. > :08:53.in Singapore. But, according to one Member of Parliament who has been
:08:54. > :08:55.raising awareness, the number of Singaporeans struggling on the
:08:56. > :09:03.margins is higher than most people think. Poverty exist in Singapore.
:09:04. > :09:09.Social researchers have estimated it is 10%- 50% of households that are
:09:10. > :09:13.low income. -- 15%. You don't see it in your face, there's no abject
:09:14. > :09:19.poverty. It happens behind closed doors.
:09:20. > :09:25.The contrast outside those close to doors couldn't be more different.
:09:26. > :09:30.Singapore is ranked as the sixth worst expensive city in the world in
:09:31. > :09:34.a recent survey. On average, each person contributes more than $50,000
:09:35. > :09:39.to the economy. But for this woman and her family, the benefits are
:09:40. > :09:47.trickling down yet. More perks for the poor mate -- might be unveiled
:09:48. > :09:51.in Friday's budget for now she will struggle to make ends meet.
:09:52. > :09:57.A quick look the markets. All Asian shares are considerably lower. The
:09:58. > :10:03.Nikkei lost more in the past hour. That's after a report on Chinese
:10:04. > :10:08.factory output, that came out. HSBC index fell. Of course we know any
:10:09. > :10:13.level below 50 suggests a contraction. Lots of concern out
:10:14. > :10:18.there about developing nation on rest and how that might impact
:10:19. > :10:22.growth globally. We also heard from the Federal Reserve. -- nation
:10:23. > :10:28.unrest. There were declines on Wall Street. In its showing members of
:10:29. > :10:38.support are continued tapering of the stimulus. That's it for now.
:10:39. > :10:42.The top stories this hour: the Ukrainian president, Viktor
:10:43. > :10:44.Yanukovych, says he's agreed a truce with opposition leaders after two
:10:45. > :10:48.days of deadly clashes in the capital, Kiev.
:10:49. > :10:51.North and South Korea are set for six days of reunions for families
:10:52. > :10:58.and relatives separated for more than 60 years since the Korean War.
:10:59. > :10:59.The partner of a former Guardian journalist, who was