11/03/2014 Asia Business Report

He denies all the charges. Now on BBC News all the latest

business news live from Singapore. As a search for the missing Malaysia

airlines flight 370 continues, we look at airport security measures.

And pawnbroking in Asia, we find out why it is nor longer seen as a last

resort for a loan. Welcome to Asia Business Report. I

Rico Hizon in Singapore. As a search for flight MH 370 continues the

Malaysia government will have to lift their game when it comes to

security. At least two people were able to board a flight using stolen

passports. It is unknown whether the disappearance was an act of

terrorism or if the passports were linked. Even if they were not, the

event has put a spotlight on the number of people travelling on false

documents. Earlier I spoke to an aviation specialist in Australia. I

asked him what effect the events would have on Malaysia. It will have

some effect on Malaysia Airlines. It could vary but if it is related to

an engineering fault, it will have a major effect on credibility on

Malaysia as a country to provide safe transit through Kuala Lumpur.

How should Malaysia authorities at this point further improve airport

security? They should follow the most stringent requirements and use

the Interpol list of stolen passports to run that against the

passenger manifests provided by the carriers. Clearly, they don't

because these passports had been missing for some time. They were

stolen in Thailand. And then someone can buy out of 100 baht. Secondly,

five people did not board the aircraft. We have no statement as to

whether their baggage was removed from the aircraft as is the

convention. Would it be costly for Malaysia to upgrade safety and

security or is it just about improving efficiency and

co-ordination with Interpol? Is about doing the job properly. They

have the people, the equipment but maybe nobody has thought of it as a

priority to do something about the stolen passports list and really,

the computing required to run at least is not very high. Somebody has

got their priorities wrong in the Malaysia government. Is not just

Malaysia that have to improve safety and security but also the rest of

Asia? It varies from country to country. 40% of countries do not do

this verification. What is important to Malaysia is, it is a transit

point for traffic between Europe and Australia and the rest of Asia.

People will just choose not to use Kuala Lumpur as a hub and will go to

a safe harp like Singapore. It will have a major effect on Malaysia

airlines because they only fly to Kuala Lumpur. Neil Hansford in

Australia. Shares in some of the world 's biggest mining companies

have been hit by a slump with the price of iron ore amid fears of a

slowdown in the Chinese company. -- economy. China is one of the biggest

consumers of the commodity and there are concerns that a slowdown may

impact the profits of mining companies. EBay has its chief

executive is paid by more than half. The company says that while John

Donoghue had performed well, the financial performance of the company

had not met expectations. Mr Donoghue was paid more than $30

million in 2013. Down from more than $29 million a year earlier.

The MtGox has won temporary bankruptcy

protection in the US. It was the largest bitcoin exchange. It filed

for bankruptcy detection in Japan last month. Hundreds of thousands of

the coins are missing, likely stolen.

China is in the middle of it annual meeting in Beijing. They have

reaffirmed their target. They have promised to push forward with

interest rate liberalisation and announced plans to establish a

deposit insurance system. Earlier I spoke with a specialist on China's

financial markets. I asked him what the latest target set about the

mainland economy. Most economists were disappointed but not surprised

at where they set the target. When you set the growth target, you

cannot target other variables. The variable we are concerned about

other growth in doubt. By setting a target, they are limiting their

ability to control the growth of debt. They also stressed that there

was flexibility. That is something we are hopeful for. What you make of

these announcements during the Congress, interest-rate

liberalisation. Watching closely the shadow banking system. We have been

talking about this years. Knows what needs to be done. There is not a lot

of confusion about what China needs to do. You have got to get

consumption are up. The only way to do that is to get household income

up. All these reforms a sickly do the same thing. They transfer wealth

to the household sector. Digging deeper into the economy, where other

red flags? Everywhere. The biggest problem that Beijing faces is not in

not knowing what to do. The biggest problem is an economy problem. For

many years we have been talking about real estate interest. We have

a switch from a system in which China was growing rapidly but the

elite were gaining a growing share of the pie to a system in which

China will grow more slowly and they have a declining share of the pie.

Is the political will to make the changes that? Absolutely. I am

fairly confident they are moving in the right direction. Pawnbroking is

one of the world 's oldest professions but in much of Asia, the

industry is taking on a new shine as a shot start to become more

mainstream. This man has recently started to

make regular journeys to the pawn shop. He and his family have been

exchanging jewellery for cash as rising costs in Singapore start to

bite. In the current situation, we do pawn jewellery. Previously, we

did not do that. Gold prices have gone up. The cash we get is higher.

These days, people can get loans against what seems like almost

everything. Watches, electronics even luxury handbags. But there are

caveats. The price offered for possession is usually lower than the

actual value and if you do not pay back the loan plus interest, you

lose the item to the pawn shop business. But pawn shop charge you

to borrow can be high. Interest rates are a maximum of 1.5% in

Singapore. Elsewhere they range from 5% to 7%. On an annual basis, that

adds up. So why do people still come here? Pawnshops such as this one

have been increasing in polarity because it is easier to come here

than go to the bank. You can turn in an antique watch and get a couple of

hundred dollars. Append 4000. Or even a gold bar and get $60,000 in

cash. One customer pawned his 22 carat diamond to get over $1 million

in cold, hard cash. The weak state of the economy has not helped.

Consumer debt in Asia have been rising steadily in recent years.

Lower to middle income families have multiple bills to pay, sometimes a

monthly salary cheque is not enough. That is true in Malaysia, Singapore

and Thailand. They have the regions highest levels of debt. Conversely,

that has led to a booming business for pawnshops with at least three

companies going public on the stock exchange. Pawnshops have not always

had the best reputation. They are famously known as the lender of the

last resort it. As traditional banks faced pressure from increased

regulations, pawned businesses that make it easier to borrow look like

they are set to benefit. Before we go, here is a quick look

at the markets. Sharemarket have stabilised this morning. Uncertainty

about the true state of China's economy is keeping the mood

uncertain. Thank you for investing your time with us. Sportsday is up

next. The headlines this hour. The search has been widened but there is

still no sign of Malaysia airlines flight 370. NATO is deploying

reconnaissance planes Poland and Romania, as part of efforts to

monitor the situation in