22/04/2014 Asia Business Report

made in talks with the government. Now on BBC News, all the latest

business news live from Singapore. Earnings of Japanese exporter is.

UnderWater World. Today's cool jobs features what it takes to work at

one of the world's biggest aquariums.

Hello and welcome. Starting with the Japanese market. The Nikkei index is

down by more than 10%. There are concerns over the country's

consumption tax which jumped to 8% from 5% at the start of April. We

are just at the start of the earnings season and investors will

be looking at how exporters are fearing. The yen is hovering at a

two`year low against the US dollar. Robot manufacturing saw an 80% fall.

I asked if this would set the tone for Japan's corporate earnings

season? When you're earning numbers `` the earning numbers showed that

investors need to get more exposure to Japan. Most of them spent the

first quarter selling out. When you see week data points, it's a great

opportunity to get back on the market. `` weak. People don't know

the big picture of Abenomics. That's where the focus should be. Focus is

on domestic demand. Should we see better numbers, domestically?

Absolutely. Going forward, there might be a one month or two month

blip in numbers, a distortion caused by the sales tax. But, overall,

without a doubt, consumption spending on the domestic front in

Japan will increase and the rebirth, if you will, of the modern Japanese

economy will take place. Investors need to find a way to participate in

that. We are seeing the impact of the consumption tax, raised to 8%.

But, over that term, with the Japanese yen weak against the US

dollar, helping exporters' bottomline is, could this impact the

sales tax? `` offset the sales tax? It could. Exports are only around

70% of the economy. In the overall picture, we don't think this is

where the biggest impact comes. The biggest impact comes from the move

back to 2% inflation from the bank of Japan maintaining a similar Tory

policy. And from the Prime Minister's government, focusing on

reconstruction or developing a new economic structure for Japan. So, if

those things are continuing on the correct path, we need to be getting

exposure to Japan against. In other business news, India's Supreme Court

ruled that mining can resume in the state of Goa, ending a previous ban

to stop environmental damage. But there are conditions attached. The

court set a maximum of 20 million tonnes can now be mined every year.

Also, mining activities are allowed within one kilometre of parks and

centuries. Goa, a top tourist destination, was once the world's

biggest exporter of iron ore. It shipped around 100 million tonnes of

the war material annually. A net loss will be posted as few are

travellers had to Thailand due to the long political unrest. The

airline said passenger numbers in March fell by more than 20% from the

same period one year ago. Number of seats sold for the first quarter

fell by 20%. Thai Airways also cited fears completion from local

carriers. The airline is scheduled to announce its first quarter

numbers next month. The earnings season is under way in

corporate America. Netflix reported a $53 million profit for the first

quarter. That is a big jump from the $3 million in profit over the same

period last year. Much of the earnings came from the addition of

more than 2 million customers through its movie and streaming

service. The firm started as a DVD rental service and now produces its

own dramas for television. This report from New York.

Netflix has been an industry disruptor. Really altering the way

people watch TV shows and movies. More recently, some of their

original programming, like House of Cards and Orange is the New Black

have been real game changers. For the first time, it has surpassed

YouTube as the placement people go to watch online videos. It now

boasts about 48 million subscribers. Netflix is available in

the US and internationally. You subscribers have pushed the

company's revenue and earnings up higher for this last quarter. But,

for those people who have yet to sign on, they can expect to be

paying a little bit more. Netflix will be charging you subscribers

about $1 or $2 more in the coming months. Looking forward in the next

year or so, Netflix is planning a big push in Europe, hoping to

increase how many subscribers it has internationally.

For more on Netflix and other top stories from around the world,

please visit our website. American car giant Ford will

reportedly named the chief operating officer Mark Fields as the successor

to its Chief Executive. That's been the buzz in the order industry,

according to sources. The automaker has declined to comment. The chief

executives is said to be stepping down at the end of this year. He has

been credited with providing its fortunes, since taking the helm in

2006. The car company is scheduled to hold its annual general meeting

in a few weeks, on the 8th of May. Apple is offering free recycling of

its used products and said it is making efforts to power all of its

stores, offices and centres with renewable energy to reduce the

pollution cost by its devices and online services. The firm has

started to stripping gift cards at some of its stores worldwide in

exchange for iPhones and iPad that are still in good condition to be

resold. They also offer a wide array of products that are not supposed to

be dumped in landfill is because of the toxins in these items.

`` landfills. For most people, the opportunity to go scuba`diving with

thousands of topical fish is something he would pay good money

for. What if you could do it every day and get paid for it? Good

working with marine life at one of the region's guest aquariums be a

mum some of Asia's coolest jobs? `` be some of Asia's. Skills required,

and interest in marine biology and scuba`diving licence. The rest you

can learn the job. Amanda spotted that advert two years ago and now

dives everyday to hand feed the animals at this aquarium in

Singapore. I do the feeding, cleaning, I do check ups, help the

bets with the checkups. The 26`year`old was a science teacher

before she took on the job. `` vets. What's the best part? Once you feed

the bottom `` reached the bottom, and hand feed the stingrays and the

sharks. So long as we don't pose a threat to them, they come forward to

us and we don't chase after them and so we don't pose any threat. Do you

think your job is a cool job? Evidently. Everyday is a new

experience. We have different animals here and each has a

different personality. A favourite is a stingray. A small one and the

reason I love that is because it is really cute and it is always

hungry, so it will always approach me for food and eat from a hand. But

if you pardon the pun, something certainly smells fishy around here.

That's because, when she isn't in the water, Amanda is preparing the

animal's food. For the bigger fish, we feed them things like this, this

eat tuna, or big squid and fish, so it is easier to grab it from our

hands. `` big tuna. How do you feel about handling fish in this way and

the smell? We all have to start from this level, where we prepare the

food. Because this is the way that we understand and know what they

like to eat. So, knowing how to prepare it is not a dirty job or

smelly job but is the basic. And of course it can't just be Monday to

Friday. Weekend working is part of the job. What about the pay? It's

not going to make you a millionaire by any stretch but Amanda, for one,

does it for the love, not just the money.

Before we go, a quick look at the markets and Asian stocks. They are

mostly in positive territory. After US equities advanced modestly

overnight, as investors showed hesitation in the wake of the strong

rally last week. Wall Street is getting ready for

another slew of earnings this week, including Apple, McDonald's. Goodbye

for now. The main stories: At least 100

people are known to have died in South Korea's ferry disaster as the

recovery goes on. There is growing anger at