:00:00. > 3:59:59He denies all the charges. Now on BBC News all the latest
:00:00. > :00:19.business news live from Singapore. As a search for the missing Malaysia
:00:20. > :00:25.airlines flight 370 continues, we look at airport security measures.
:00:26. > :00:33.And pawnbroking in Asia, we find out why it is nor longer seen as a last
:00:34. > :00:41.resort for a loan. Welcome to Asia Business Report. I
:00:42. > :00:46.Rico Hizon in Singapore. As a search for flight MH 370 continues the
:00:47. > :00:50.Malaysia government will have to lift their game when it comes to
:00:51. > :00:54.security. At least two people were able to board a flight using stolen
:00:55. > :00:58.passports. It is unknown whether the disappearance was an act of
:00:59. > :01:04.terrorism or if the passports were linked. Even if they were not, the
:01:05. > :01:08.event has put a spotlight on the number of people travelling on false
:01:09. > :01:12.documents. Earlier I spoke to an aviation specialist in Australia. I
:01:13. > :01:21.asked him what effect the events would have on Malaysia. It will have
:01:22. > :01:25.some effect on Malaysia Airlines. It could vary but if it is related to
:01:26. > :01:31.an engineering fault, it will have a major effect on credibility on
:01:32. > :01:38.Malaysia as a country to provide safe transit through Kuala Lumpur.
:01:39. > :01:46.How should Malaysia authorities at this point further improve airport
:01:47. > :01:50.security? They should follow the most stringent requirements and use
:01:51. > :01:55.the Interpol list of stolen passports to run that against the
:01:56. > :02:00.passenger manifests provided by the carriers. Clearly, they don't
:02:01. > :02:03.because these passports had been missing for some time. They were
:02:04. > :02:09.stolen in Thailand. And then someone can buy out of 100 baht. Secondly,
:02:10. > :02:14.five people did not board the aircraft. We have no statement as to
:02:15. > :02:20.whether their baggage was removed from the aircraft as is the
:02:21. > :02:23.convention. Would it be costly for Malaysia to upgrade safety and
:02:24. > :02:28.security or is it just about improving efficiency and
:02:29. > :02:34.co-ordination with Interpol? Is about doing the job properly. They
:02:35. > :02:39.have the people, the equipment but maybe nobody has thought of it as a
:02:40. > :02:44.priority to do something about the stolen passports list and really,
:02:45. > :02:48.the computing required to run at least is not very high. Somebody has
:02:49. > :02:54.got their priorities wrong in the Malaysia government. Is not just
:02:55. > :03:00.Malaysia that have to improve safety and security but also the rest of
:03:01. > :03:04.Asia? It varies from country to country. 40% of countries do not do
:03:05. > :03:10.this verification. What is important to Malaysia is, it is a transit
:03:11. > :03:17.point for traffic between Europe and Australia and the rest of Asia.
:03:18. > :03:20.People will just choose not to use Kuala Lumpur as a hub and will go to
:03:21. > :03:27.a safe harp like Singapore. It will have a major effect on Malaysia
:03:28. > :03:35.airlines because they only fly to Kuala Lumpur. Neil Hansford in
:03:36. > :03:38.Australia. Shares in some of the world 's biggest mining companies
:03:39. > :03:47.have been hit by a slump with the price of iron ore amid fears of a
:03:48. > :03:54.slowdown in the Chinese company. -- economy. China is one of the biggest
:03:55. > :03:57.consumers of the commodity and there are concerns that a slowdown may
:03:58. > :04:04.impact the profits of mining companies. EBay has its chief
:04:05. > :04:08.executive is paid by more than half. The company says that while John
:04:09. > :04:12.Donoghue had performed well, the financial performance of the company
:04:13. > :04:17.had not met expectations. Mr Donoghue was paid more than $30
:04:18. > :04:20.million in 2013. Down from more than $29 million a year earlier.
:04:21. > :04:34.The MtGox has won temporary bankruptcy
:04:35. > :04:39.protection in the US. It was the largest bitcoin exchange. It filed
:04:40. > :04:47.for bankruptcy detection in Japan last month. Hundreds of thousands of
:04:48. > :04:56.the coins are missing, likely stolen.
:04:57. > :05:05.China is in the middle of it annual meeting in Beijing. They have
:05:06. > :05:10.reaffirmed their target. They have promised to push forward with
:05:11. > :05:13.interest rate liberalisation and announced plans to establish a
:05:14. > :05:20.deposit insurance system. Earlier I spoke with a specialist on China's
:05:21. > :05:26.financial markets. I asked him what the latest target set about the
:05:27. > :05:31.mainland economy. Most economists were disappointed but not surprised
:05:32. > :05:35.at where they set the target. When you set the growth target, you
:05:36. > :05:40.cannot target other variables. The variable we are concerned about
:05:41. > :05:45.other growth in doubt. By setting a target, they are limiting their
:05:46. > :05:49.ability to control the growth of debt. They also stressed that there
:05:50. > :05:53.was flexibility. That is something we are hopeful for. What you make of
:05:54. > :05:59.these announcements during the Congress, interest-rate
:06:00. > :06:05.liberalisation. Watching closely the shadow banking system. We have been
:06:06. > :06:10.talking about this years. Knows what needs to be done. There is not a lot
:06:11. > :06:17.of confusion about what China needs to do. You have got to get
:06:18. > :06:22.consumption are up. The only way to do that is to get household income
:06:23. > :06:26.up. All these reforms a sickly do the same thing. They transfer wealth
:06:27. > :06:33.to the household sector. Digging deeper into the economy, where other
:06:34. > :06:39.red flags? Everywhere. The biggest problem that Beijing faces is not in
:06:40. > :06:44.not knowing what to do. The biggest problem is an economy problem. For
:06:45. > :06:46.many years we have been talking about real estate interest. We have
:06:47. > :06:52.a switch from a system in which China was growing rapidly but the
:06:53. > :06:57.elite were gaining a growing share of the pie to a system in which
:06:58. > :07:03.China will grow more slowly and they have a declining share of the pie.
:07:04. > :07:08.Is the political will to make the changes that? Absolutely. I am
:07:09. > :07:19.fairly confident they are moving in the right direction. Pawnbroking is
:07:20. > :07:22.one of the world 's oldest professions but in much of Asia, the
:07:23. > :07:31.industry is taking on a new shine as a shot start to become more
:07:32. > :07:35.mainstream. This man has recently started to
:07:36. > :07:40.make regular journeys to the pawn shop. He and his family have been
:07:41. > :07:49.exchanging jewellery for cash as rising costs in Singapore start to
:07:50. > :07:59.bite. In the current situation, we do pawn jewellery. Previously, we
:08:00. > :08:05.did not do that. Gold prices have gone up. The cash we get is higher.
:08:06. > :08:10.These days, people can get loans against what seems like almost
:08:11. > :08:16.everything. Watches, electronics even luxury handbags. But there are
:08:17. > :08:21.caveats. The price offered for possession is usually lower than the
:08:22. > :08:25.actual value and if you do not pay back the loan plus interest, you
:08:26. > :08:34.lose the item to the pawn shop business. But pawn shop charge you
:08:35. > :08:39.to borrow can be high. Interest rates are a maximum of 1.5% in
:08:40. > :08:46.Singapore. Elsewhere they range from 5% to 7%. On an annual basis, that
:08:47. > :08:52.adds up. So why do people still come here? Pawnshops such as this one
:08:53. > :08:58.have been increasing in polarity because it is easier to come here
:08:59. > :09:06.than go to the bank. You can turn in an antique watch and get a couple of
:09:07. > :09:14.hundred dollars. Append 4000. Or even a gold bar and get $60,000 in
:09:15. > :09:20.cash. One customer pawned his 22 carat diamond to get over $1 million
:09:21. > :09:24.in cold, hard cash. The weak state of the economy has not helped.
:09:25. > :09:28.Consumer debt in Asia have been rising steadily in recent years.
:09:29. > :09:35.Lower to middle income families have multiple bills to pay, sometimes a
:09:36. > :09:39.monthly salary cheque is not enough. That is true in Malaysia, Singapore
:09:40. > :09:45.and Thailand. They have the regions highest levels of debt. Conversely,
:09:46. > :09:48.that has led to a booming business for pawnshops with at least three
:09:49. > :09:54.companies going public on the stock exchange. Pawnshops have not always
:09:55. > :09:59.had the best reputation. They are famously known as the lender of the
:10:00. > :10:02.last resort it. As traditional banks faced pressure from increased
:10:03. > :10:09.regulations, pawned businesses that make it easier to borrow look like
:10:10. > :10:15.they are set to benefit. Before we go, here is a quick look
:10:16. > :10:24.at the markets. Sharemarket have stabilised this morning. Uncertainty
:10:25. > :10:32.about the true state of China's economy is keeping the mood
:10:33. > :10:44.uncertain. Thank you for investing your time with us. Sportsday is up
:10:45. > :10:49.next. The headlines this hour. The search has been widened but there is
:10:50. > :10:58.still no sign of Malaysia airlines flight 370. NATO is deploying
:10:59. > :11:00.reconnaissance planes Poland and Romania, as part of efforts to
:11:01. > :11:01.monitor the situation in