25/02/2014 Asia Business Report

Farnham. Now on BBC News all the latest

business news live from Singapore. It is Asia Business Report with

Ricoh. The giants of the mobile phone world

are in Barcelona, we discuss the latest announcements and trends.

Find out more about the partnership talks in Singapore where global

trade ministers are holding their final round of negotiations. Welcome

to Asia Business Report, I am Rico Hizon in Singapore. The movers and

shakers of the tech world are in Barcelona for the Mobile world

Congress. Several big tech companies are using the gathering to launch

new products and announced the new ideas for the future. South Korea's

Tech giant, Samsung, is at the meeting and says its next smartphone

range will feature biometric security, like Apple's iPhone five,

the main button on the front will double as a fingerprint scanner used

to unlock it. The phone will be available in April. WhatsApp says it

will offer voice calls to its 450 million customers. The news comes

days after it was acquired by Facebook for $19 billion. The move

is seen as a threat for telecom operators whose revenues have been

hit already by the free messaging service. In its first ever

appearance, Facebook boss outlined plans to bring internet access to

the developing world. He says a set of basic services should be

available to everyone. -- his first-ever. Also at the Congress is

not Sylla, best known for its Firefox browser. They have brought

out its new $25 smartphone. The developing world is getting

spoiled here. This is a prototype phone, a reference model actually,

so it won't go into production. Inside is a deal struck between

mozzarella and trick -- trip makers. It is the $25 phone. There is no

release date scheduled for this but clearly with this and Nokia's

low-cost and red, we will see a lot of budget phones hitting the market.

-- Mozilla. You won't be able to do everything you can on a high and

smartphone, but this is the thought of thing that would be fantastic for

someone who wants to get online and doesn't have access to the money to

do so otherwise. I spoke to Jake Saunders from ABI

research to ask what he thought about this $25 smartphone. Very

exciting, this will bring on-board the next one -2 billion new

subscribers. They are keen. There are two challenges though, the

devices were too expensive. And it is all about internet access. They

are saying that we want Facebook into the users in Indonesia and

India and China and so forth, so they will do that by going to mobile

operators and fading, leggy surfers -- make the servers free. But they

aren't keen on that. Why not? They are being squeezed in many markets.

That means pushing down on the margins, and tariffs have been

dropping over the last 2-3 years even with the increase of four G

services, many operators have been pricing the 4G services at the same

price as their three G services. Vig get more data but that is pressuring

operators. -- 3G. But they are offering Wi-Fi, where consumers

benefit with WhatsApp they can also operate on cellular services. In

places like Japan they do have Wi-Fi hotspots. Are they are keen to make

WhatsApp available on the cellular service. In other news, the

professional networking service linked in has launched a test

version of its Chinese language site. It is aimed at making a

localised service to Chinese users and is expected to boost growth on

the mainland. Rivals like Facebook and Twitter continue to be blocked

in the mainland. Microsoft is to drop the price of its new console,

just three months after its release. It is priced in the UK at 715 US

dollars with a bundled game. It will drop to $665 on Friday. So far the

drop will only apply to the UK market. A big fight between the

Indonesian government and the mining industry comes to a head, they are

meeting to discuss a new law which means all raw minerals must be

processed in Indonesia before they are exported. It was supposed to

boost jobs but many companies do not have the facilities required and

they say it is bad for business. Our correspondent reports from Jakarta.

The new mining will has been pointed out as agent example of an uncertain

legal framework. -- an example. It contained a ban on raw mineral

exports which went into effect this year. The Government asserted miners

were given five years to build smelters in Indonesia, but many say

the timeframe was not realistic. The law was only clarified by the

implementing regulations of 2012, June 2012. So, by the time the

regulations came out, but with the deadline of January 2014 in place,

that only gave what? Eight 20 month time period. That's not enough to

get approval for a smelter. -- a 20 month. They are allowed to export

concentrating the let studious after paying a tax. -- hefty. That will be

increased to 60% in 2016. 60% is practically a ban. Then please build

the smelters soon. But our analyst sees the problem being that:

Uncertainty. If the Government could put some certainty into this whole

regulation, and if it could be realistic in its timeframes, we

might find a better attitude among the foreign miners. It is not so

much the government's intention that businesses have a problem with but

the way the regulations are carried out, and how Indonesia manages this

could determine its future growth. Global trade ministers are holding

their final round of talks today for an ambitious new free trade zone

called the transpacific partnership. The TPP links 12 countries and is a

key part of America's pivot to Asia but does not include China. Our

reporter is at the meeting in Singapore with more on those

negotiations. It is a key part of President Omar

Mah's shift to Asia. The white house hoped it would meet the deadline of

December but Mr VAT and the hope is that it could come too late

agreement by April. -- an agreement. That is when he is scheduled to

visit the region. -- President Obama. -- Mr Obama. The uncertainty

between the Japanese and US resulted in talks late on Monday but both

sides came away with out any agreement, with the Japanese saying

big gap remained between the two sides. For more, I am joined by a

trade expert. Thank you for joining us, what is your view on the meeting

is taking place smack will we see a deal come out on the final day? I

don't think so. I think it will get close. I the end of the year, yes.

But this is the largest trade agreement outside the EU, bringing

together 12 economies. Together they are a 40% of the world was in a

global GDP. So this is a very big deal as it stands. It has the

potential to get much bigger. There are eight countries that are likely

to join in the next group of countries, including, I think,

China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea and some other ASEAN

countries. This could get even bigger with 20 countries in it. That

makes it a very significant agreement that needs to conclude as

quickly as possible. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has faced

opposition to joining the TPP. Mostly from rice farmers and lobby

groups, that is. What is the likelihood of them making

concessions? It is a matter of political will. A matter of both

sides being willing and able to say, in the interests of this larger

agreement, we are willing to take on some very challenging domestic

political lobbies and say to them, you have to give a little in order

to get this much larger promise for the society as a whole. Thank you

for all your insight. As you can see, there is still a number of

challenges for the countries involved in the TPP negotiations to

cross. But, as to whether they can agree this year, that remains to be

seen. Our correspondent Abbey ongoing

negotiations. Before we go, a look at the stock market. Most are in

positive territory following a rally on Wall Street overnight. Japan,

Hong Kong and Australia, or rather, South Korea in positive territory. I

am Rico Hizon, sport today is next. -- Sport Today. Mike Embley with the

main stories. The UN has delivered a two a handful of refugees living in

the ruins of the Syrian of Damascus. Tens of thousands are still in

desperate need. EU officials are in Ukraine