07/03/2014

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:00:00. > :00:00.him of using his celebrity connections to bully and manipulate

:00:00. > :00:15.girls and women into sexual acts. He denies the charges. Time for Asia

:00:16. > :00:22.Business Report. A Chinese solar panel maker warns

:00:23. > :00:30.that it cannot pay out millions on interest in domestic bonds. Diamonds

:00:31. > :00:46.are supposed to be forever. Why are some companies in India losing hope?

:00:47. > :00:54.Welcome to the programme. In China, the country's first ever corporate

:00:55. > :00:58.bond default is possible. One company has warned it will not be

:00:59. > :01:03.able to pay $14.5 million in interest due today. Struggling

:01:04. > :01:14.Chinese companies are often rescued by the government. What does this

:01:15. > :01:19.mean for the company? It's important that the Chinese allow a company to

:01:20. > :01:25.default. And it's important it happens while the National People's

:01:26. > :01:30.Congress is under way. It seems like this default has the tacit approval

:01:31. > :01:37.of the people at the top, meaning that the Chinese are going to

:01:38. > :01:42.allow... Let's take a step back. Will they do this? They may allow

:01:43. > :01:53.one company to default and in the future, they may allow for more bail

:01:54. > :02:03.out manoeuvres. Will this be used as an example because of the NPC going

:02:04. > :02:08.on at the moment? If there are more defaults, this will be part of a

:02:09. > :02:12.greater structural adjustment. Then there would be change in the bond

:02:13. > :02:16.market, where a good credits are priced lower and bad credits are

:02:17. > :02:20.priced higher. That would make it difficult for bad credits to borrow,

:02:21. > :02:25.so we go companies would exit the industry. That would address a major

:02:26. > :02:31.problem in China, which is overcapacity in many industries.

:02:32. > :02:35.Japan's government has said that Bitcoin is not a currency but that

:02:36. > :02:41.some transactions using the virtual unit should be taxed. The government

:02:42. > :02:44.said it was natural to consider how to impose taxes if there were

:02:45. > :02:48.transactions and games involved. It also says banks cannot divide

:02:49. > :02:53.Bitcoin as a product to their customers. The government is trying

:02:54. > :02:58.to calculate the volume and value of Bitcoin in circulation around the

:02:59. > :03:01.world. The US Department of Justice has launched an anti-trust

:03:02. > :03:10.investigation into Time Warner cable. The largest cable companies

:03:11. > :03:16.in the US would join forces. Comcast has argued that it and Time Warner

:03:17. > :03:29.cable serve different markets and that the deal will not be negative

:03:30. > :03:38.for the industry. Times are tough in India and the Indian diamond market.

:03:39. > :03:47.We met diamond traders to see if diamonds really can be forever. It's

:03:48. > :03:51.hard to imagine that amid the chaos and crowds here, precious diamonds

:03:52. > :04:01.are being bought and sold. But this is one of the busiest streets of the

:04:02. > :04:09.diamond market. The fluctuation in India's currency has made business

:04:10. > :04:15.of the cult over the past year. -- business difficult. We buy diamonds

:04:16. > :04:22.at higher prices and sometimes we have to sell at lower prices. Small

:04:23. > :04:25.dealers cannot bear such losses. Eight out of every ten diamonds sold

:04:26. > :04:32.anywhere in the world come from here, even though India does not

:04:33. > :04:37.produce any diamonds of its own. This diamond industry is worth over

:04:38. > :04:41.25 yen dollars and it directly employs over 700,000 people pull up

:04:42. > :04:45.most of the diamonds that are processed here are exported but it

:04:46. > :04:51.is also completely dependent on imports for top when there is

:04:52. > :04:54.fluctuation in the exchange rate, and immediate effect is felt here.

:04:55. > :05:00.Small and medium-sized enterprises dominate this business but they

:05:01. > :05:10.don't have large profit margins. They need financial backing to

:05:11. > :05:14.withstand the losses. We don't get loans very easily from banks. And

:05:15. > :05:19.the government does not do much to help us. Recently, we have been

:05:20. > :05:23.approached by other countries like Luxembourg and Belgium, who say they

:05:24. > :05:27.will give us finance and other infrastructure if we set up there.

:05:28. > :05:31.There is also competition from China, which has been slowly setting

:05:32. > :05:44.up hi-tech diamond cutting companies. For now, the city

:05:45. > :05:49.continues to sparkle as the world's diamond capital. But it knows it has

:05:50. > :05:53.to work harder if it wants to maintain that spot. Small and

:05:54. > :05:57.medium-sized businesses are at the back bone of many Asian economies

:05:58. > :06:02.and there are more women than ever before at the helm, starting their

:06:03. > :06:06.own businesses and continuing family trait. International Women's Day is

:06:07. > :06:10.being marked this weekend. We spoke with one small business owner in

:06:11. > :06:13.Singapore who says that being a woman in a male dominated industry

:06:14. > :06:28.has given her business a competitive edge.

:06:29. > :06:35.Today, we will be doing Janet. This is a follow-up on her tattoo. Some

:06:36. > :06:44.pieces need to be redone. Basically, this is just a touch up. My

:06:45. > :06:49.grandfather, Johnny to sums, came to Singapore in the 1940s and he was

:06:50. > :06:54.the first pioneer artist in Singapore to start the tattooing

:06:55. > :06:57.business. Then my uncles took over the trade and I started my

:06:58. > :07:02.apprentice ship, becoming the third generation. I decided that the

:07:03. > :07:08.business needed a new look and that many things had to change from the

:07:09. > :07:15.stereotypical tattoo shop. Something that reflected a feminine approach

:07:16. > :07:21.to it, something that meant anyone could walk in and feel comfortable

:07:22. > :07:28.and not get frightened. Being a woman in this industry, it's easier

:07:29. > :07:33.for people to approach. People who want a small tattoo, they don't want

:07:34. > :07:40.their whole body to be covered and they don't want to have to deal with

:07:41. > :07:43.the ego or the macho. Sometimes they feel very intimidated when they see

:07:44. > :07:49.a large man who is fully tattooed and they just want a small tattoo.

:07:50. > :07:57.This helps on both sides, both male and female. It took me a few years

:07:58. > :08:01.to realise that I'm my own boss. I work the hardest and do the longest

:08:02. > :08:07.hours. It's still like I'm working for the family. It does not feel

:08:08. > :08:14.like I'm my own boss. Even though I called all of the shots, ironically.

:08:15. > :08:16.More than 70% of Asian businesses are family owned and for centuries,

:08:17. > :08:28.that ownership has moved down the male line. Today, women are taking

:08:29. > :08:36.on family trades. One specific role is standing out. The eldest daughter

:08:37. > :08:40.is often given a lot of responsibility both for keeping the

:08:41. > :08:44.family together and taking care of, making sure the parents are well

:08:45. > :08:48.taken care of, making sure the siblings are well taken care of, and

:08:49. > :08:58.in many cases, the eldest daughter becomes the father's right-hand

:08:59. > :09:05.person. The eldest daughter can be in many cases more trusted than even

:09:06. > :09:09.the sons, even though the eldest son may be expected to take over the

:09:10. > :09:14.business. Because the men often inherit these businesses.

:09:15. > :09:20.Yes. And the men are facing the outside world. The women are behind

:09:21. > :09:25.the scenes. The father often has a special trust in the eldest daughter

:09:26. > :09:31.because she is not experienced as a competitor, she is not directly

:09:32. > :09:36.compared to him. It can be a very close relationship. To the extent

:09:37. > :09:44.that the daughter is an extension of the father in his eyes, she may be

:09:45. > :09:52.asked to do any number of tasks in a wide range. And in many cases,

:09:53. > :09:56.especially these days, women have been very well educated and have

:09:57. > :10:05.experience working in the West and have responded when their fathers

:10:06. > :10:10.call them back to help him out. Time for a quick look at the

:10:11. > :10:18.markets. They were all trading higher olio, but they have now

:10:19. > :10:21.scaled back some of those games. This is mainly as caution sets in

:10:22. > :10:28.ahead of some very crucial numbers coming out of the US tonight. Those

:10:29. > :10:32.crucial employment reports that many investors are waiting for. Thank you