:00:16. > :00:21.President Obama continues his push for a key trade pact despite
:00:22. > :00:26.opposition in Malaysia. And, will they rebound? We look at how Asian
:00:27. > :00:34.currencies welfare after a week of falls. `` will fare.
:00:35. > :00:43.Welcome to Asia Business Report. Security and economic ties will
:00:44. > :00:50.dominate president Obama's visit to the Philippines. It is his final
:00:51. > :01:01.stop on a week`long trip to four Asian nations. People rallied in
:01:02. > :01:06.Malaysia against the Trans`Pacific Partnership. It looks like an uphill
:01:07. > :01:09.battle to get Malaysia to sign up, as the president said there were
:01:10. > :01:13.issues to apply and out, and fears that it could lead to higher prices
:01:14. > :01:30.for food and medicine. The concerns were shared by these protesters. We
:01:31. > :01:35.reject and vehemently protest this, which will affect millions of
:01:36. > :01:45.Malaysian people. Our economic stability, we should decide our
:01:46. > :01:50.self, not the West. Big power countries will have influence over
:01:51. > :01:55.small economies, so it is not fair. It is a very different story in the
:01:56. > :02:00.Philippines, which is yet to join the TPP negotiations. What can we
:02:01. > :02:08.expect from his next stop in the Philippines? That is a question I
:02:09. > :02:12.discussed. There are several areas that the government announced as key
:02:13. > :02:18.discussion points during the visit. One of them, political and security,
:02:19. > :02:25.for obvious reasons, and the other perhaps less obvious one is the
:02:26. > :02:30.issues of disaster relief, and humanitarian aid during natural
:02:31. > :02:38.disasters. The second one that was announced was the expansion of trade
:02:39. > :02:46.and investment. Inflows into the Philippines, we are the lowest
:02:47. > :02:54.percentage of FDI inflows from the US. Do you think it is the
:02:55. > :03:00.relationship the US has with China could affect investment? We have
:03:01. > :03:05.done a risk assessment, and so far it has not changed our view that the
:03:06. > :03:09.Philippines will continue to be an attractive investment destination.
:03:10. > :03:13.To have been tensions with China, so surely some of the investment from
:03:14. > :03:22.China has been impacted was yellow yes, we were affected, we did see
:03:23. > :03:38.fewer arrivals. Japan has posted its biggest hike in
:03:39. > :03:42.retail sales in 17 years. The government data for March said that
:03:43. > :03:46.consumers went on a shopping spree before rising sales tax at the
:03:47. > :03:49.beginning of April. Figures show they stocked up on electronics,
:03:50. > :03:56.toiletries and clothes, to avoid paying higher prices in the first
:03:57. > :03:59.tax hike since 1997. China's second`largest bank has reported a
:04:00. > :04:03.10% increase in net profits. The China Construction Bank is the third
:04:04. > :04:07.of the big four lenders to report results higher than expected.
:04:08. > :04:12.Profits have been put down to higher income from interest and bank fees.
:04:13. > :04:16.After nearly two weeks of protests, most of the workers who staged one
:04:17. > :04:21.of China's biggest strikes are expected back on the job today. Or
:04:22. > :04:25.than two thirds of them return to work at a factory, after the company
:04:26. > :04:34.agreed to some of their main demands. The firm estimates the
:04:35. > :04:36.strike cost around $7 million. Will Asia's major currencies rebound this
:04:37. > :04:41.week after falls in many countries last week? Most of them slid between
:04:42. > :04:54.half and 1%. The Indonesian rupiah led the pack, falling 1.3%. China's
:04:55. > :05:14.you one fell almost half a percent. `` yuan. I think a bounce is likely.
:05:15. > :05:23.We wouldn't be participating in that. We are concerned with global
:05:24. > :05:26.markets, and equity. At the moment, we won't buy anything that is
:05:27. > :05:29.increasing in volatility and has been performing poorly. They are
:05:30. > :05:31.likely to bounce, there are short positions in these currencies that
:05:32. > :05:37.can be rectified, but rather than can be rectified, but rather than
:05:38. > :05:49.selling into those, in terms of the Indonesian rupiah, for example. I
:05:50. > :05:57.don't see a long`term bounce or turn coming in terms of currency any time
:05:58. > :06:02.soon. Lenovo is already the world's largest computer maker, but that is
:06:03. > :06:04.not all it wants to be known for. It is betting its future on smart
:06:05. > :06:10.phones, and is moving forward with its plan to buy IBM server business.
:06:11. > :06:13.It plans to talk to investors in Singapore today, as it tries to
:06:14. > :06:21.raise funds in Asia for future acquisitions. We explain why Lenovo
:06:22. > :06:27.is targeting declining tech Rance. Variable to turn around these low
:06:28. > :06:31.margin divisions and make them more profitable by shifting operations to
:06:32. > :06:39.China, and then re` exporting to these developed markets where there
:06:40. > :06:47.is always a recognised brand name. What about mobile phones? We know
:06:48. > :06:51.they are waiting for approval to buy Motorola, it wants to push into
:06:52. > :06:56.smart phones, but this is crowded territory. You will have to take on
:06:57. > :07:04.the iPhone and the Samsung galaxy. That is true, but the thing about
:07:05. > :07:14.the smart phone market is that it is very mature in western Europe and
:07:15. > :07:20.North America, but there are developing markets where Lenovo can
:07:21. > :07:28.offer a product with a similar functionality to a Samsung device.
:07:29. > :07:31.How are they going to do that? Their strategy seems all about acquiring
:07:32. > :07:37.other businesses, are they coming up with their own ideas? They have some
:07:38. > :07:43.innovation, it would be wrong to say they had no innovation that goes on
:07:44. > :07:46.at Lenovo. They have come out with some interesting designs in the
:07:47. > :07:49.hybrid PC market, there is no reason why they can't do more of that sort
:07:50. > :07:54.of thing in the tablet or mobile phone markets. With India in the
:07:55. > :07:59.grips of one of the most important elections in decades, booksellers
:08:00. > :08:01.are trying to cash in on people's hunger for information about the
:08:02. > :08:09.nation's lenders and leading contenders, and leaders. There is a
:08:10. > :08:15.growing market as literacy rates improve, but book markets are still
:08:16. > :08:18.losing out to cheaper, pirated books.
:08:19. > :08:22.The moment you enter a bookstore like this, there is no doubt in your
:08:23. > :08:27.mind there is an election on. The whole country is gripped by
:08:28. > :08:31.politics. More may has a higher literacy, more people can read and
:08:32. > :08:37.write, and this is Connie to overdrive. In India, one man who has
:08:38. > :08:43.been written a lot about is Narendra Modi, widely seen by many as a
:08:44. > :08:47.front`runner to this election. Over 15 books on him have been published,
:08:48. > :08:53.half of which have hit the shelves in the past couple of months. This
:08:54. > :09:01.is the book in huge demand. It analyses the outgoing PM, Manmohan
:09:02. > :09:05.Singh, and some allegations it had been made have created a stir in the
:09:06. > :09:11.political world, which means public and gold. It was out of stock within
:09:12. > :09:17.a couple of days of its release, which prompted more people to read
:09:18. > :09:22.it. There are so many political books in the market, but is there
:09:23. > :09:29.demand for them? This political election has a huge buildup. There
:09:30. > :09:35.is lots more awareness, and people want information. They pick up looks
:09:36. > :09:39.on the elections. You might have noticed that most of the books we
:09:40. > :09:43.looked at many are published in Hindi and other dialects as well.
:09:44. > :09:47.You will find them commonly in small shops, on the roadside, or among the
:09:48. > :09:52.piles of books that are sold on the pavements. These are mostly pirated
:09:53. > :09:54.and are sold at a much lower price, and this has been a long`term
:09:55. > :09:59.headache for the publishing industry. Despite that, the Indian
:10:00. > :10:03.book market has been growing at a rapid pace. Any international
:10:04. > :10:08.publishing houses have set up offices here in the past few years.
:10:09. > :10:15.That have a quick look at the markets. They are flat to weaker at
:10:16. > :10:18.the moment, with losses of over 160 points in Japan.
:10:19. > :10:25.the moment, with losses of over 160 points That is essentially taking
:10:26. > :10:28.cues from the close on Friday. Deepening concerns about what is
:10:29. > :10:40.going on in the Ukraine as well. Thank you for watching.
:10:41. > :10:49.Our top stories: Pro`Russian separatist in the Ukraine have freed
:10:50. > :10:50.one European monitor on medical grounds. Another