:00:00. > :00:23.Now on BBC News all the latest business news live from Singapore.
:00:24. > :00:25.Asian markets fall on worries about escalating tensions in Ukraine.
:00:26. > :00:28.China's currency, what do we think it could mean for the economy and
:00:29. > :00:38.the upcoming leaders meeting in Beijing? As you been hearing on our
:00:39. > :00:41.bulletins tensions escalating in Ukraine and Washington has
:00:42. > :00:44.threatened to isolate Russia economically after Vladimir Putin
:00:45. > :00:51.declared that had the right to invade Ukraine. That is weighing on
:00:52. > :01:08.Asian markets this morning. All of them are currently in the red.
:01:09. > :01:21.Fresh signs of a slowdown in China also a factor. Investors are also
:01:22. > :01:26.watching the Chinese currency, after it had its biggest one`day fall
:01:27. > :01:31.against the US dollar of nearly 1%. It is the biggest decline since 2005
:01:32. > :01:35.when China introduced its currency regime and moved away from a tight
:01:36. > :01:42.peg against the US dollar. The slide in the currency comes amid concern
:01:43. > :01:46.about the Chinese economy. The outlook should become clearer when
:01:47. > :01:56.the country 's parliament starts its annual meeting in Beijing later this
:01:57. > :01:59.week. There are speculations that over the next few months we could
:02:00. > :02:08.see a further loosening of the group that the Chinese central bank has
:02:09. > :02:15.over the exchange rate. Officials are also trying to send a signal
:02:16. > :02:19.here to the people who bring in hard money into the country, saying that
:02:20. > :02:29.enough is enough. We have too much liquidity. We are looking to the
:02:30. > :02:37.NPC, the big meeting that starts this week. What announcements are
:02:38. > :02:43.you expecting? We already had a big list in November but we need to see
:02:44. > :02:48.some details spelt out. Some of the areas of reform continue to be
:02:49. > :02:51.financial liberalisation, liberalising deposit interest rates
:02:52. > :02:58.would be a big one. Fiscal policy that is offering local government
:02:59. > :03:03.alternative funding avenues. Currently local governments are
:03:04. > :03:06.issuing debt and the idea is to give them additional revenue said that
:03:07. > :03:15.they do not have to rely on debt so much to fund the ongoing operations.
:03:16. > :03:23.Those would be two key areas. For more on the movements of the yuan,
:03:24. > :03:30.look at our website. Staying with China, official data showed a
:03:31. > :03:40.slowdown in factory activity. The index edged down from 50.5 in
:03:41. > :03:45.January. The official data is in contrast with that from HSBC, where
:03:46. > :03:50.the final readings came in at 48.5, signalling a contraction. We need to
:03:51. > :03:54.keep in mind the factories and businesses were shut for several
:03:55. > :04:04.days in early February due to the lunar New Year festivities. A
:04:05. > :04:10.Chinese carmaker has acquired a British company specialising in
:04:11. > :04:13.start`up car parts. Manufacturers are under pressure to ease traffic
:04:14. > :04:18.congestion and pollution. The government wants more hybrid and
:04:19. > :04:32.electrical vehicles on the road in coming years. In Japan, shares are
:04:33. > :04:40.trading higher from the operator uniqlo clothing stores. When you
:04:41. > :04:44.think of the movies you think of Hollywood, especially today as the
:04:45. > :04:52.annual Academy Awards ceremony is under way. Movie money is heading
:04:53. > :05:01.east towards Asia in Singapore is one country in the region that is
:05:02. > :05:04.investing heavily in movies. They may not be Oscar`nominated movies
:05:05. > :05:09.but the money behind Asian film is growing. Box office receipts in the
:05:10. > :05:16.region have been rising and with that an interest in locally produced
:05:17. > :05:22.films like Ghost Child. One of the firms behind this development is
:05:23. > :05:28.Infinite Studios. They have opened two new sound stages here. Its
:05:29. > :05:31.founder hopes the investment will pay off thanks in part to the fact
:05:32. > :05:37.that Singapore encourages movie firms to set up. There is a
:05:38. > :05:43.programme in Singapore which is very attractive so producers can take
:05:44. > :05:47.advantage of government offsets regarding spending in Singapore. The
:05:48. > :05:51.growth of the industry is important in the government subsidises that.
:05:52. > :05:56.There is a rising amount of talent flowing through Singapore from all
:05:57. > :06:05.parts of Asia. They are not the only ones. Lucasfilm are formed by George
:06:06. > :06:12.Lucas, set up one division in Singapore nearly a decade ago. That
:06:13. > :06:15.is behind movies like Pacific Rim. It has just opened a huge new
:06:16. > :06:20.facility in the city and will hire new people. Singapore 's economic
:06:21. > :06:24.development board is focused on this. Their job is to attract more
:06:25. > :06:29.investment and create jobs for locals. Their chairman says that
:06:30. > :06:34.they saw an opportunity to leverage off the growth of the entertainment
:06:35. > :06:40.industry. The media industry is very exciting. Its growth prospects are
:06:41. > :06:46.exciting and growth in this part of the world, countries like China,
:06:47. > :06:50.India, they are the fastest growing markets for digital media and
:06:51. > :06:53.content, including movies. It is a creative industry that appeals to
:06:54. > :07:05.our younger citizens. Singaporeans would find such career is very
:07:06. > :07:13.exciting. The Asia`Pacific box office growth was highest for all
:07:14. > :07:16.films in 2012. China led the list. These companies are trying to cater
:07:17. > :07:21.to a growth market. Last year Asia as a whole accounted for over 40% of
:07:22. > :07:25.the international box offers. Singapore is just one country in the
:07:26. > :07:35.region trying to tap into that magic. Globalisation has meant a big
:07:36. > :07:40.increase in people leaving their home country to work abroad. One
:07:41. > :07:47.factor in choosing a new location is the availability of schools offering
:07:48. > :07:51.a widely recognised curriculum. With the large expatriate population,
:07:52. > :07:58.Singapore has seen a surge in demand for such schools.
:07:59. > :08:07.Getting ready to lay the foundations of his future. Like most kids of his
:08:08. > :08:12.age, this boy 's life is dominated by education. In his case, Dave 's
:08:13. > :08:18.parents who are originally from India decided to opt for an
:08:19. > :08:22.international school. When we moved to Singapore a couple of years back
:08:23. > :08:28.we chose on its national school with the ID curriculum. We do not how we
:08:29. > :08:34.will be here so even if we move we know that we can still go to an
:08:35. > :08:41.international school with an ID curriculum anywhere in the world.
:08:42. > :08:45.There is a huge demand for international schools here. The
:08:46. > :08:53.school that Dave goes too, has more than a thousand students and it is
:08:54. > :08:57.just one of its three campuses. Over the past few years, Singapore has
:08:58. > :09:01.grown to become a key financial centre and a regional hub for many
:09:02. > :09:05.global firms. That is in a large number of expatriates come to live
:09:06. > :09:09.and work here, many of them with kids, driving up demand for
:09:10. > :09:16.international schools. According to the latest data, there is 31
:09:17. > :09:21.international schools here. There are 45,000 students enrolled in
:09:22. > :09:24.them. The sector also has an impact on the economy, with hundreds of
:09:25. > :09:29.millions of dollars of investments needed to set up such schools. Many
:09:30. > :09:38.more may still need to be built to cater for the growing demand. All of
:09:39. > :09:41.these schools are full. There is an equal number of expatriates coming
:09:42. > :09:50.in as there is leaving. Despite the government 's measures, we are
:09:51. > :09:58.likely to see eight or 9% growth in expatriates as well is resulting in
:09:59. > :10:03.education spaces for children. There will not be many seats empty in the
:10:04. > :10:06.school or others. As parents go all`out to ensure a better future
:10:07. > :10:13.for their kids, they are also helping to secure a good one for the
:10:14. > :10:19.schools and there are `` that their children are studying at. At the top
:10:20. > :10:28.of the show we showed you will of the markets that were falling. There
:10:29. > :10:32.are safe havens as a result of tensions in Ukraine. The Japanese
:10:33. > :10:39.yen, gold, and treasuries are rising.
:10:40. > :10:50.The top stories this hour. Russian troops have seized control of Crimea
:10:51. > :10:52.with fears that they could be deployed across eastern Ukraine.
:10:53. > :10:56.Ukraine's Prime Minister has accused Russia of declaring war and says
:10:57. > :10:57.that his country is on the brink of