:00:00. > :00:00.neither of them had an outright majority. Now on BBC News, all the
:00:00. > :00:13.latest business news live from Singapore. One year on, we look at
:00:14. > :00:19.what has changed from the worst industrial disaster to hit
:00:20. > :00:28.Bangladesh. Global trade ambitions, the US President is in Japan to push
:00:29. > :00:34.for progress. Thanks for watching Asia Business Report. We start off
:00:35. > :00:37.in Bangladesh. The south Asian nation witnessed its worst ever
:00:38. > :00:43.industrial disaster one year ago, when a clothing factory collapsed,
:00:44. > :00:51.killing more than 1,100 people. It severely dented the image of the
:00:52. > :00:57.country's garment industry. They exported more than $22 billion worth
:00:58. > :01:00.of clothes last year. Our correspondent reported on the
:01:01. > :01:10.disaster, and now looks at what has changed. This woman was lucky enough
:01:11. > :01:12.to survive the disaster. She was among hundreds of women working
:01:13. > :01:17.inside the complex when it came crashing down last year. Trapped
:01:18. > :01:23.under the rubble, she was rescued two days after the disaster. Her
:01:24. > :01:29.mangled legs had to be amputated. TRANSLATION: I am borrowing money to
:01:30. > :01:33.survive. My husband is taking care of me and he has no time to go to
:01:34. > :01:44.work. Who will look after me and do the housework? Even one year later,
:01:45. > :01:48.I am still waiting for my full compensation. That is because
:01:49. > :01:51.western brands and retailers have so far contributed only $15 million to
:01:52. > :01:54.a $40 million fund to compensate victims and their families. Money
:01:55. > :02:07.has only just started trickling down, and it is likely to take
:02:08. > :02:10.months to reach the victims. Rebecca and thousands of others were saved
:02:11. > :02:12.from the rubble. It was a Bangladesh's worst ever industrial
:02:13. > :02:16.disaster. More than 1,100 people were killed. The disaster was a
:02:17. > :02:22.major wake`up call for the clothing sector. A series of measures have
:02:23. > :02:25.been taken in the last year. The minimum monthly wage for workers has
:02:26. > :02:33.been increased from $38 per month to $68. Western retailers have also set
:02:34. > :02:39.up a fund to help improve safety standards in the clothing industry
:02:40. > :02:42.in Bangladesh. Around 200 new safety inspectors will be appointed to try
:02:43. > :02:50.and prevent another major collapse or fire in the factories. For others
:02:51. > :03:04.who escaped, they are back at work in new jobs. Safer factories, but
:03:05. > :03:07.life has not been easy. TRANSLATION: I do not want to work anymore. I get
:03:08. > :03:24.flashbacks about those horrible days. I cannot sleep properly. As I
:03:25. > :03:29.have nightmares, but I don't have any option as we are poor. My father
:03:30. > :03:32.and brother are no more. We have to work to pay our bills. Learning the
:03:33. > :03:35.lessons from the disaster is crucial to the economy. The clothing sector
:03:36. > :03:37.represent nearly 80% of exports, but while Western retailers say they
:03:38. > :03:43.want safety to improve, they have not been shy to warn they will go
:03:44. > :03:47.elsewhere if costs rise too high. It was a busy session in the US
:03:48. > :03:52.overnight, with a lot of companies reporting their quarterly earnings.
:03:53. > :03:57.Some of the highlights. Facebook made a profit of $642 million in the
:03:58. > :04:02.first quarter of the year. It is nearly three times more than the
:04:03. > :04:06.profit it made over the same period in 2013. The company said the surge
:04:07. > :04:13.in mobile advertising helped push its revenues higher by 70%. Facebook
:04:14. > :04:17.had 1.8 million users in the first quarter, and more than 1 billion
:04:18. > :04:23.access the site through a mobile device such as a smartphone or a
:04:24. > :04:27.tablet. Apple made $10 billion in the first three months. That is a 7%
:04:28. > :04:36.jump. The quarterly earnings announcement came with a hint from
:04:37. > :04:45.Tim Cook that new products are on the way. They sold 43 million iPods
:04:46. > :04:50.worldwide this year. US aircraft manufacturer Boeing has raised its
:04:51. > :05:02.profit outlook after strong demand. Its main rival Airbus had 141. Their
:05:03. > :05:07.revenues amounted to $20 billion. An 8% hike. Net profit fell by 12%.
:05:08. > :05:14.That was due to changes in its retirement plan. New Zealand's
:05:15. > :05:19.central bank raised its cost of borrowing by a quarter of a percent.
:05:20. > :05:24.The bank says there will be more rate hikes to come to keep on top of
:05:25. > :05:28.inflation pressures as economic growth remains robust. New Zealand
:05:29. > :05:33.is the only central bank in the developed economy to have raised
:05:34. > :05:38.interest rates this year. Barack Obama spent his first night in Japan
:05:39. > :05:41.on a tour of Asia. Today he will be having talks with Shinzo Abe, and
:05:42. > :05:46.high up on their agenda will be the potential free trade deal. US and
:05:47. > :05:49.Japan hold the key to the success of negotiations, but even if a deal is
:05:50. > :05:52.done between the two countries or the 12 countries involved, could
:05:53. > :06:04.Obama get the approval from Congress to sign it? Our correspondent
:06:05. > :06:07.reports from New York. This is the UPS sorting facility in Kentucky.
:06:08. > :06:10.Thousands of packages make their way through here every day. If the US
:06:11. > :06:19.agrees on a free trade deal with 12 other countries, this place could
:06:20. > :06:22.get a whole lot busier. We would see a tremendous growth from a trade
:06:23. > :06:24.agreement. We have seen that in past trade agreements. Some previous
:06:25. > :06:26.agreements that were negotiated, like the US`Singapore agreement and
:06:27. > :06:36.the US`Chile free trade agreement. We saw a 20% increase in volume.
:06:37. > :06:39.Past agreements have taken manufacturing jobs from the US,
:06:40. > :06:41.which is why not all businesses are getting behind the massive trade
:06:42. > :06:56.partnership that would link nearly 60% of global GDP. Businesses like
:06:57. > :07:01.Ford, maker of the iconic Mustang. It could hurt our business. It could
:07:02. > :07:04.cause imbalance and take jobs away from American workers, and use that
:07:05. > :07:07.for countries that are trying to manipulate their currency and always
:07:08. > :07:14.export their unemployment problems to other parts of the world, and we
:07:15. > :07:16.do not think that is right. US manufacturers often complain that
:07:17. > :07:18.countries engaging in currency manipulation by keeping it
:07:19. > :07:30.artificially low have had a devastating impact on America's
:07:31. > :07:32.manufacturing sector. In last year's State of the Union address,
:07:33. > :07:38.President Obama made specific mention of the TPP. To boost
:07:39. > :07:41.American exports, support jobs, and level the playing field in the
:07:42. > :07:42.growing markets of Asia, we intend to complete negotiations on the
:07:43. > :07:46.transpacific partnership, and tonight, I am announcing we will
:07:47. > :08:01.launch talks on a competency of transatlantic trade and investment
:08:02. > :08:04.partnership with the EU. Because trade that is fair and free across
:08:05. > :08:08.the Atlantic supports millions of good`paying American jobs. But this
:08:09. > :08:10.year, there was no reference to the trade deal at all. Getting
:08:11. > :08:12.fast`track authority to get past regulars would be crucial in
:08:13. > :08:15.extracting concessions from Japan and other countries. Getting that
:08:16. > :08:17.through this divided Congress is unlikely, a sign that the
:08:18. > :08:30.President's biggest obstacle could be right here at home. Two giants of
:08:31. > :08:33.the pharmaceutical company announced a complicated deal which will see
:08:34. > :08:48.them create a new consumer healthcare business. GSK will buy
:08:49. > :08:54.the vaccine business of Novartis. And a Swiss giant will take over
:08:55. > :08:57.GSK's cancer drugs unit. It is the latest in a slew of deals pointed to
:08:58. > :09:00.a consolidation for the drugs industry. Our correspondent explains
:09:01. > :09:10.why these deals are taking place. One reason it is scientific.
:09:11. > :09:13.Rational drug design is causing more failures than successes, and
:09:14. > :09:15.rational drug design is why you have Big Pharma companies. Second is
:09:16. > :09:21.government, government is restricting access to doctors. You
:09:22. > :09:25.need much different salesforce models. The third is capital
:09:26. > :09:28.markets. They are punishing companies when they get late stage
:09:29. > :09:32.failures and so they are looking for different ways to spread the risk.
:09:33. > :09:38.Fewer companies with fewer product makes more sense. What does this
:09:39. > :09:49.mean for Asia's pharmaceutical sector? For Asia, you look at it two
:09:50. > :09:51.ways. Inbound and outbound. For outbound, Asian companies need to
:09:52. > :09:54.start increasing their global footprint because this is a
:09:55. > :09:56.situation with fewer competitors and more consolidation. Companies, if
:09:57. > :09:59.they do it right, it will increase their global footprint. For inbound,
:10:00. > :10:02.companies could increase their Asia footprint and there is a lot
:10:03. > :10:21.involved in that they need to deal with. Complexity, regulatory and
:10:22. > :10:26.quality big three of them. Let's have a quick look at the markets.
:10:27. > :10:42.Stocks are feeling the pressure after Wall Street equities it
:10:43. > :10:43.overnight. Thank you for investing your time with us. `` be ``