:00:00. > :00:13.quickly. Time now for the latest business news live from Singapore.
:00:14. > :00:18.Off the job. Workers in India are demanding higher wages from Japanese
:00:19. > :00:21.car`maker Toyota. And a special report on Turkey. One of the
:00:22. > :00:28.economies suffering from a cutback in US stimulus programmes.
:00:29. > :00:35.Welcome. Toyota's Indian subsidiary will meet today with the state
:00:36. > :00:40.government in an attempt to end an industrial dispute that has dragged
:00:41. > :00:43.on for ten months. Yesterday, the Japanese car`maker announced a
:00:44. > :00:45.lock`out of nearly six and a half thousand workers from its two
:00:46. > :00:47.assembly plants, claiming some employees have threatened
:00:48. > :00:57.supervisors and resorted to deliberate stoppages.
:00:58. > :01:04.Toyota has shut down its manufacturing plants. The company
:01:05. > :01:06.said in a statement, "Over the past 25 days, a section of employees have
:01:07. > :01:12.disrupted business and stopped production lines". This after the
:01:13. > :01:18.management today met with unions and local government and failed to reach
:01:19. > :01:28.an agreement. They added that the shutdown will result in the loss of
:01:29. > :01:32.700 units every day. We are not clear as to when the plants will
:01:33. > :01:35.resume operations. India is not a huge contributor in terms of revenue
:01:36. > :01:39.for Toyota, but it is a significant market. The firm has raised millions
:01:40. > :01:48.of dollars over the years to expand its manufacturing presence in the
:01:49. > :01:51.country. The auto industry here is used to it. In 2012, another
:01:52. > :02:01.Japanese car`maker, Suzuki, had stoppages that were violent and left
:02:02. > :02:08.one person dead. They had to shut production for several weeks, losing
:02:09. > :02:11.many millions of US dollars. Activists and labour unions say a
:02:12. > :02:19.lot of companies exploit contract workers by paying them less than
:02:20. > :02:22.company employees. Auto companies have been hiring more contractors to
:02:23. > :02:30.cut costs as the auto market has been hit by a slowdown over the last
:02:31. > :02:33.couple of years. Toyota's rival, General Motors, has
:02:34. > :02:44.issued new recalls of 1.5 million cars, mainly its utility vehicles
:02:45. > :02:49.and luxury cars. It came after a report that engine fires happened in
:02:50. > :02:51.two vehicles. General Motors has recalled around three million
:02:52. > :02:58.vehicles worldwide due to faulty airbags and brake parts across
:02:59. > :03:07.several models. The car`maker said it would come at a huge cost.
:03:08. > :03:10.As the US Federal reserve meets for the first time under its new chief,
:03:11. > :03:12.Janet Yellen, global investors are jittery with anticipation of
:03:13. > :03:17.continued reduction of the stimulus programme. That programme has
:03:18. > :03:22.provided liquidity into many emerging markets, such as Turkey.
:03:23. > :03:26.Since winding back the stimulus last year, the Turkey Euro has lost 20%
:03:27. > :03:39.of its value, and the stock market has fallen 25%. `` the Turkish lira.
:03:40. > :03:41.Our correspondent went to Turkey. Turkey has one of the biggest
:03:42. > :03:44.deficits amongst emerging economies. That means that it loses more than
:03:45. > :03:55.it earns on its exports and investments. As a result, Turkey
:03:56. > :04:00.owes a lot of money to foreigners. Foreign debt is up to 50% of GDP,
:04:01. > :04:03.which is a risky level. It has cut back on cheap cash injections. That
:04:04. > :04:07.cash had been going to other emerging economies. The lira has
:04:08. > :04:13.weakened, making it harder to repay the debt. The Turkish central bank
:04:14. > :04:21.has hiked rates, which are now at double figures. Needless to say,
:04:22. > :04:28.seeing this happen at such magnitude would be a shock to anyone with a
:04:29. > :04:32.mortgage business plan. That is why, when the money leaves, it can hurt
:04:33. > :04:38.growth. Even worse, if a country can't repay its debts, it will
:04:39. > :04:40.default and become a crisis. Our correspondent caught up with
:04:41. > :04:49.Turkey's finance minister, and asked about the state of the economy.
:04:50. > :04:53.Because this package has slowed down, we will be willing to live
:04:54. > :05:05.with a more modest growth. Consumer comfort has collapsed. Industrial
:05:06. > :05:08.output is up, which is unusual. I was surprised. Even though we may
:05:09. > :05:11.experience some slowdown, I think it is unlikely to resuscitate, because
:05:12. > :05:18.what is happening is on the back of these domestic political happenings.
:05:19. > :05:27.I suppose the political instability, corruption, and unrest in the
:05:28. > :05:33.country has led to this. If you look at opinion polls, they have a good
:05:34. > :05:38.sense of what is happening. They understand much of this is
:05:39. > :05:41.politically motivated. Even if there are problems, I think they still
:05:42. > :05:51.have confidence in us addressing those problems. In your kind of
:05:52. > :05:54.analysis, how much of the fall of the lira, how much of the concerns
:05:55. > :06:05.over Turkey, will result in a change? I would say a substantial
:06:06. > :06:15.portion of currency weakness is attributable to that decision. That
:06:16. > :06:35.tapering, if there was clarity as to when and how, I think now is better.
:06:36. > :06:41.Markets adjust. We will adjust. When there is uncertainty, that's where
:06:42. > :06:48.the problems come in. I think the markets still offer value. The
:06:49. > :06:51.political noise in a number of countries may get in the way,
:06:52. > :06:54.whether you are talking about Ukraine or Venezuelan, Turkey,
:06:55. > :06:57.Thailand, I can only speak of Turkey as far as politics are concerned,
:06:58. > :07:18.and people want clarity, and that will mean going back to basics.
:07:19. > :07:21.Japan will suspend talks on investment and relaxation of visa
:07:22. > :07:28.requirements as part of sanctions against Russia. This comes after
:07:29. > :07:33.Moscow recognise Crimea as a foreign state `` independent state following
:07:34. > :07:38.a referendum on the weekend. They said it was in breach of Ukraine's
:07:39. > :07:43.Constitution. Caesars entertainment has been given approval to operate a
:07:44. > :07:48.casino resort in South Korea. It will take on the project in a joint
:07:49. > :07:51.deal with Indonesian conglomerate. The entertainment complex will
:07:52. > :07:57.include a theme park, two hotels, and a casino. It will only be open
:07:58. > :08:01.to foreigners. They want to completed by 2018.
:08:02. > :08:04.For more on the gaming industry in South Korea and other business
:08:05. > :08:12.headlines from around the world, visit our website. China has pledged
:08:13. > :08:16.to speed the pace of urbanisation and given property stocks a kick
:08:17. > :08:19.along. More broadly across the region, what is the outlook for the
:08:20. > :08:23.property market? With Asian investors keen to grow their wealth
:08:24. > :08:28.at home and abroad, analysts say the market is changing and traditional
:08:29. > :08:32.property sectors are becoming more crowded. I spoke with an analyst and
:08:33. > :08:36.asking where investors were putting their money when it comes to bricks
:08:37. > :08:42.and mortar. There are two ways to look at it. There are countries that
:08:43. > :08:45.are popular with active capital. A lot of foreign capital is looking at
:08:46. > :08:49.Australia, and a lot of funds are raised to target China. Those are
:08:50. > :08:52.the three biggest in terms of capital focus. The other thing to
:08:53. > :08:57.bear in mind is quality. The best quality real estate has been in high
:08:58. > :09:05.domain since the financial crisis. Shiny office buildings and shopping
:09:06. > :09:09.moles. That is about why they have come down. That quality property has
:09:10. > :09:13.had a lot of capital targeting. Does that mean people have to look
:09:14. > :09:18.elsewhere are looking to more niche markets and take more risks? Yes.
:09:19. > :09:25.Our recommendations to investors is to move a little bit out of the risk
:09:26. > :09:28.curb, not necessarily speculative development, but take on some
:09:29. > :09:33.leasing risks outside of the CBD or work for older properties that need
:09:34. > :09:37.fixing up. All get niche markets, such as medical offices in China or
:09:38. > :09:44.industrial in China. Some variant of hotels as. At the same time, you
:09:45. > :09:48.have Australia where there is a Parliamentary committee looking into
:09:49. > :09:52.foreign investment, particularly by China, into residential property,
:09:53. > :09:56.and whether that is pricing local residents as the market. That
:09:57. > :10:00.concern about the foreign market, particularly residentially, is that
:10:01. > :10:06.more widespread than Australia? It is, and there is a tendency to paint
:10:07. > :10:10.foreign investment is innate equivocal negative, which is not
:10:11. > :10:15.fair or true. Australia is certainly looking at this. Measures have been
:10:16. > :10:18.introduced in Singapore and Hong Kong specifically targeting
:10:19. > :10:20.residential. Bearing in mind that these economies are ones where
:10:21. > :10:28.supply was tight because of government zoning. That is it for
:10:29. > :10:41.this edition of Asia Business Report. Don't forget to follow us on
:10:42. > :10:44.Twitter. I'm here with the top news stories.
:10:45. > :10:46.Finally