:00:00. > :00:15.past 12 years. Now on BBC News all the latest
:00:16. > :00:19.business news live from Singapore. As China moves to open up its
:00:20. > :00:26.financial sector, it is asking to big internet firms to help it set up
:00:27. > :00:30.private banks. -- two. And, cool jobs here in Asia, our new series
:00:31. > :00:42.takes to disguise with the pilot of a hot air business in Myanmar.
:00:43. > :00:45.Welcome to the programme. Now, two of China's biggest internet
:00:46. > :00:49.companies have been picked up by the government to help set up private
:00:50. > :00:53.banks. Alibaba and Tencent have been chosen for a project to set up five
:00:54. > :00:58.banks owned completely by private companies. It is part of a move to
:00:59. > :01:02.open up China's financial sector. Earlier, I spoke to our
:01:03. > :01:13.correspondent in Hong Kong and asked about the significance of the move.
:01:14. > :01:17.It is extremely significant. The trial programme has been announced
:01:18. > :01:21.very quickly. The idea was floated last year, but no one had any idea
:01:22. > :01:27.they would announce it during the National People's Congress. What is
:01:28. > :01:34.less surprising is that it involves two of China's Digest internet
:01:35. > :01:38.companies. In fact, Alibaba is already playing in this space. They
:01:39. > :01:46.have announced they will be launching a credit card with a
:01:47. > :01:50.Chinese tank. -- bank. They have also started offering an online fund
:01:51. > :01:55.management programme, and, according to news reports, tens of billions of
:01:56. > :01:58.US dollars have already been invested. Alibaba sent me a
:01:59. > :02:02.statement saying they are in the process of working out the details
:02:03. > :02:08.of the kind of private tank they would like to set up. They don't
:02:09. > :02:11.have much more to Sebi on that. But they confirmed they are working with
:02:12. > :02:18.an auto parts company, also based in eastern China. Are their concerns
:02:19. > :02:24.about how these banks will be regulated? We know there is a big
:02:25. > :02:30.situation about bad debt in China. That is right. I get the sense that
:02:31. > :02:36.bad debt is less of a focus during this trial programme. The regulator
:02:37. > :02:43.wants to achieve a more friendly banking process for the little guy,
:02:44. > :02:46.meaning individual depositors and a small to medium-size company who
:02:47. > :02:51.want access to credit. Right now, the banking sector is dominated by
:02:52. > :02:56.the big four state owned banks. There are private players but at the
:02:57. > :03:00.moment interest rates for people with deposits are extremely low and
:03:01. > :03:05.for many small companies who wish to expand it is difficult for them to
:03:06. > :03:08.get credit. According to a regulator who briefed journalists in Beijing,
:03:09. > :03:14.he said that Alibaba's proposal focuses on the smaller companies. In
:03:15. > :03:20.other news making headlines, Italy's biggest bank has reported a
:03:21. > :03:27.record annual loss of $19 billion and says the plan to cut 8500 jobs
:03:28. > :03:31.or 6% of its workforce. The biggest bank by assets put aside more than
:03:32. > :03:36.$18 billion to cover losses from bad loans in 2013 and is trying to state
:03:37. > :03:40.stock of its financial position before EU regulators conduct a
:03:41. > :03:44.health check in the coming months of the industry. For other news and
:03:45. > :03:50.analysis, you can log onto our BBC website. Over in Thailand, a state
:03:51. > :03:55.of emergency may be lifted from the capital of Bangkok. According to
:03:56. > :04:02.reports, top government officials said improved security could create
:04:03. > :04:08.a high chance for the urgency to be removed. Protesters have been trying
:04:09. > :04:12.to unseat the Prime Minister for several months and the conflict has
:04:13. > :04:18.caused consumer confidence to drop to a 12 year low. Tourism, a key
:04:19. > :04:22.industry, has also suffered and many related his nurses are feeling the
:04:23. > :04:27.pinch. Thailand's central bank meets later and are expected to reduce
:04:28. > :04:31.interest rates to boost growth. I spoke to a senior economist, asking
:04:32. > :04:41.if lower in interest rates would address the country's problems. If
:04:42. > :04:43.you are talking about interest rates being lowered by 25%, consumer
:04:44. > :04:46.confidence is low so the credit channel might filter through,
:04:47. > :04:49.consumers might not want loans. One of the things the central bank will
:04:50. > :04:54.do is bolster confidence. They want to send the right signal, given that
:04:55. > :04:59.the impasse is in place, he can't get mega infrastructure rolling, and
:05:00. > :05:03.that is worth 17% of GDP. If you look at that over ten years, that is
:05:04. > :05:09.one percentage point of growth that will be subtracted. What else are we
:05:10. > :05:23.expected to hear from the central bank's what is their outlook for
:05:24. > :05:26.growth this year? We lowered our growth forecast in the midst of the
:05:27. > :05:29.political turmoil and the infrastructure plan, so we are
:05:30. > :05:32.looking at 2.8% growth. The last time the central bank was in the
:05:33. > :05:40.ballpark of about 4%. They might slow it to about 3%. What does it
:05:41. > :05:46.mean for Thai assets? It has not been that hard hit. If you look at
:05:47. > :05:54.it from 2013 Alan Knill now it has dropped less than 6%. The rupee has
:05:55. > :05:56.fared much worse. We think the underlying confidence remains, but
:05:57. > :06:01.they are waiting for the political storm to blow over. But we would
:06:02. > :06:09.rather be cautious about these assets and we are looking at the
:06:10. > :06:13.depreciation this year. You are saying the political storm blowing
:06:14. > :06:16.over... Do you think the directionless nurse that we are
:06:17. > :06:20.seeing in the markets, this caution, is due to this political
:06:21. > :06:27.impasse's until that is lifted, nothing more can happen? That seems
:06:28. > :06:31.to be the situation unfortunately. We are waiting for businesses to
:06:32. > :06:38.come and invest. But none of this is a starter it until you have a proper
:06:39. > :06:42.and stable government imposition. Ask any child what they want to be
:06:43. > :06:48.when they grow up, and what do they answer? Usually things like
:06:49. > :06:52.astronaut, football star, actress, and even teachers. So, what are the
:06:53. > :06:59.coolest jobs in Asia? As part of our new series, we need the pilot of a
:07:00. > :07:08.hot air balloon who flies over Myanmar's ancient temple city.
:07:09. > :07:11.If you have a burning desire to fly balloons, you better be an early
:07:12. > :07:17.riser. Today starts with a test of the wind at a dark 4:30am. I have
:07:18. > :07:21.set the alarm and come to meet men whose professional life involves a
:07:22. > :07:26.lot of hot air. How long does it take to become a hot air balloon
:07:27. > :07:31.pilot if someone wants to train? For the private licence, usually within
:07:32. > :07:35.a year. If you want to be professional, usually pilots, before
:07:36. > :07:47.they get into the highest group, is easily 3-4 years. The pilots are all
:07:48. > :07:52.European and they fly four baskets of tourist, each paying at least
:07:53. > :07:58.$300 for 45 minutes, looking down on the ancient temples of Baghdad. The
:07:59. > :08:08.view is amazing. Do you sometimes look at yourself and think wow. --
:08:09. > :08:12.Bagan. I have to pinch myself. Every flight is different. It is a bit of
:08:13. > :08:17.a challenge. You don't know where you will end up. It is one of the
:08:18. > :08:20.last real adventures. You know where you are taking off from, but you
:08:21. > :08:25.don't know where you will end up. That is quite fun. But everything,
:08:26. > :08:29.when you do it a lot, has the potential to get boring. You have
:08:30. > :08:34.been doing this for six years, are you getting bored of these temples
:08:35. > :08:39.every morning? Not really. It is an amazing place around here. If you
:08:40. > :08:42.are up in a balloon, you see the sunrise and the temples, it doesn't
:08:43. > :08:50.get much better. What are your friends say, the friendly gas jobs?
:08:51. > :08:55.They do like my office. -- desk jobs. When the rainy season starts
:08:56. > :09:01.most of the pilots had back to Europe for the summer season. What
:09:02. > :09:05.is the worst thing about this job, they must be something that doesn't
:09:06. > :09:10.make it quite so attractive. Obviously, it is a stunning place to
:09:11. > :09:14.be, but it has its downsides as well because it is remote. The logistics
:09:15. > :09:19.of getting family and children here can be complicated. My family were
:09:20. > :09:23.here for three months, but I wish it could have been longer. Still, this
:09:24. > :09:30.is an amazing place to fly. It is hard to complain. During Myanmar's
:09:31. > :09:37.dark days, only one company flew here. But with reforms and more to
:09:38. > :09:46.rests, there is now competition. The skies over Bagan has never been so
:09:47. > :09:50.busy. -- have. Returning to Earth now, because the markets have seen a
:09:51. > :09:57.huge sell-off this Wednesday morning. You are seeing the Nikkei
:09:58. > :10:01.down. This is one week after China's onshore default. We saw
:10:02. > :10:05.disappointing dater in the second largest economy, fuelling concerns
:10:06. > :10:13.over Hong Kong and China markets. -- data. The yen is continuing strong
:10:14. > :10:18.against the US dollar, meaning export relying stocks are being sold
:10:19. > :10:23.in Japan. And in Australia, the market is down 45 points and mining
:10:24. > :10:27.stocks, including BHP, are being sold off due to falls in metal
:10:28. > :10:31.prices. There are worries about a cool the Chinese economy. That is it
:10:32. > :10:44.for this edition of Asia at business report. Thank you for watching. --
:10:45. > :10:54.Asia Business Report. An Mike Embley. The top stories this our: As
:10:55. > :10:56.the search for the missing Malaysian airliner enters a fifth day, there's
:10:57. > :10:58.confusion over reports it had strayed hundreds of miles off
:10:59. > :10:59.course. In