27/03/2014 Asia Business Report

jobs. Now on BBC News all the latest

business news live from Singapore. New pressures for Malaysia Airlines

and Boeing for the relatives of the passengers of Flight MH370.

And we take you into the world of virtual reality to find out why

Facebook is spending $2 billion on this technology.

Malaysia Airlines and Boeing are facing lawsuits over the missing

flight MH370 as the search focuses on images showing a further 122

potential objects in the southern Indian Ocean.

A law firm in the US has filed a court motion, alleging the flight

crashed due to mechanical failure. The claim right now is just to

obtain discovery of information and that is essentially somewhat of a

fishing exercise in order for the law firm to decide what motion to

take out for an actual claim on behalf of the passengers.

It is an information seeking exercise. Most of the passengers are

from China and Malaysia. What do the laws in these countries they about

missing persons and taking legal action? No bodies have been found so

far. Has death or serious injury had occurred, that depends on individual

laws. The number of years before a missing person is declared deceased

is seven years. But Malaysia is a signatory to the Montreal

Convention. That allows, well requires, a claim to be brought.

What does it state in terms of compensation for family members? It

has to be brought within two years and the amount they have to claim is

that in two parts. The first part is strict. Regardless of the reason for

the cause of death, for Malaysia, the amount that the next of kin is

able to claim from the carrier is 175,000 US dollars per person.

What about for the airline? What kind of impact would this have on

the airline's bottom`line? It would have had to take out liability

insurance. It would be about $1 billion so that should be enough in

the insurance to cover claims that are brought by passengers.

China is buying 70 jets from Airbus in a $10 billion order. It is now

the only firm set to benefit during the Chinese President's visit to

France. On the occasion of the Chinese

President's visit to France, a bonanza for Airbus. First, a deal to

sell 70 aircraft is to help fill the burgeoning Chinese demand for air

travel. The $10 billion sale had been

blocked because of Chinese objections to EU to impose carbon

tax on foreign airlines, but those plans have been suspended. There is

more for Airbus. It is also signed an agreement to extend for ten years

the life of its joint venture. There are plans to build parts of the A330

there as well. Another big contract on helicopters. Airbus has agreed to

build 1000 of its helicopters in another joint venture with the

Chinese. TRANSLATION: 18 billion Euros in contracts means employment,

growth and especially respect for growth for years to come.

Airbus has banked on the Chinese air market taking off and these

contracts will be seen as a welcome confirmation. The European company

says it supplies 50% of China's civil aviation needs.

The creator of Candy Crush has had a disappointing debut on the stock

exchange. They got crushed by investors with shares plummeting as

much as 15%. The fall reflects concerns that the company may not be

able to create another game as popular as Candy Crush.

The World Trade Organisation is China's on rare elements breaks

global trade rules. China accounts for more than 90% of the raw

materials used in the manufacturing of gadgets such as DVDs and mobile

phones. Facebook investors appear to have

given the thumbs down to it's two billion`dollar deal to buy virtual

reality headset makers. The shares fell 7% overnight. Closing at

$60.38. So why is Facebook's owner so interested?

Back in the 1980s, virtual reality was the hot new trend, ready to give

us a different view of the world. But soon, enthusiasm faded because

the whole experience was not very real. Now, virtual reality is back

after Facebook paid a huge sum for this company, a business yet to

release this headset to the general public. Companies have been rushing

to experiment with the technology which allows it uses to get a 360

degree view while they play. Virtual reality have come a long way over

the last 20 years, and I get a real sense of walking into this Tuscan

villa of a 3`D environment. I can even try and walk these stairs. But

Facebook and others are betting that this kind of experience will appeal

to people and businesses way beyond the world of gaming. So where am I?

You are in an underground bunker. This developer is working on a

series of games. They will start off with gaming but you will see them go

to interesting areas as going back in time and exploring history. Or

even watching football matches. And from supermarkets guiding us around

virtual stores to a sports sponsors giving us a taste of rugby. Plenty

of businesses will be trying to take us into their virtual world.

Would you like a job that promises plenty of peace and quiet? In the

latest segment on cool jobs in Asia, our correspondent travels to one of

the most remote weather stations in Taiwan.

If you like the outdoors and don't mind a bit of solitude, this could

be the job for you. The office is a tiny island a mere one and a half

square kilometres. And the job is checking the weather. It belongs to

this man, he works one month on, one month off. He shares a job with

another weatherman. With only two stores, no cinemas and

nothing to do. Do you get bored? The remote location and lack of

activities could explain why there is not a lot of competition for his

job. Even though the information he collects is vital for the local

shipping and fishing industries. Every day more than 5000 fishing

boats and cargo ships pass through these waters in the Taiwan Straits.

The fishing industry alone injects 3/2 billion dollars into the economy

each year. Overall traffic is expected to rise as economic ties

between Taiwan and China grew closer. Why did you choose this job?

As an added bonus, he found his wife here. No mean feat given that there

are just 25 people on the island. So even after nine years, he says he is

not about to quit any time soon. Regional share prices are all in

negative territory. That is after US equities fell overnight amid

geopolitical concerns. Those are the market. Thank you for interesting

your time with us. I'm Mike Embley. The top stories

this hour. A satellite has spotted what could

be a massive field of debris in the southern Indian Ocean ` its

described as the most credible lead yet in the hunt for the missing

Malaysian airliner. Footage has emerged showing the dramatic rescue

of a four year`old boy from the mudslide in