01/05/2014

Download Subtitles

Transcript

:00:00. > :00:13.Catholic College. Now on BBC News all the latest business news live

:00:14. > :00:18.from Singapore. As Asia celebrates Labour Day, what

:00:19. > :00:25.does the region need to do to improve workers rights? The king of

:00:26. > :00:30.fruit, one of India's key exports has been banned in Europe and we

:00:31. > :00:42.will look at the impact it produces. Hello and welcome to Asia

:00:43. > :00:48.Business Report. It cannot have escaped your notice that today is

:00:49. > :00:55.the 1st of May and many are taking the day off to celebrate Labour

:00:56. > :01:03.Day. But here in Asia, they state there is still quite a bit of work

:01:04. > :01:12.to do. There are rising Labour disputes in China and in Bangladesh,

:01:13. > :01:20.safety was called into question after the collapse of a factory over

:01:21. > :01:25.a year ago. We spoke to our correspondent about workers

:01:26. > :01:29.improving their rights. No country is willing to take a stand and have

:01:30. > :01:33.minimum wage requirements for their low`paid workers or to have safety

:01:34. > :01:40.standards that guarantee that they will not end up in hospital. We can

:01:41. > :01:46.look we have seen it in Cambodia and Indonesia, but is raising the

:01:47. > :01:56.minimum wage the best way to address the issue? It is necessary, not

:01:57. > :02:02.sufficient. It is affected by many things. If you raise minimum wages,

:02:03. > :02:08.people feel that they can go home and eat something, they feel more

:02:09. > :02:13.secure. But beyond that, capitalist provides capital, they want a very

:02:14. > :02:17.high return on their capital and what do they want for that return?

:02:18. > :02:23.No safety standards, no minimum wages, because that keeps the cost

:02:24. > :02:29.of production low and profits high. It will go to countries that

:02:30. > :02:34.guarantee them no such standards. But we are seeing wages rising in

:02:35. > :02:40.China, and manufacturers even going to other cheaper markets in the

:02:41. > :02:52.region. Do you think that as wages inevitably rise it will put Asia's

:02:53. > :02:59.the low wage manufacturing sector at risk? They will keep moving. It will

:03:00. > :03:03.move to India or other countries but it is a very slow`moving train that

:03:04. > :03:08.will eventually move to Africa where the cheapest Labour will be. I do

:03:09. > :03:14.not think this will go away for the next 20 years. It is here to stay.

:03:15. > :03:17.This is a model where capitalism wants a very high return and when

:03:18. > :03:26.the capital return is higher than economic growth, people will be

:03:27. > :03:32.allowed to earn wealth. They are not earning enough and the capitalist is

:03:33. > :03:42.earning so it is divided. Poverty reduction will be a key topic when

:03:43. > :03:52.finance ministers meet in Kazakhstan this weekend for an annual general

:03:53. > :04:02.meeting. We want to eradicate this and the Asia eradicate poverty,

:04:03. > :04:10.which is only a one point to $5 a day income. Based on what we see

:04:11. > :04:19.right now, we see the potential to eradicate this I 2025, years ahead

:04:20. > :04:29.of the global agenda. It means that we have many challenges ahead of us

:04:30. > :04:39.`` by. We still have a lot to deal with. If Asia becomes middle income,

:04:40. > :04:45.it will cause questions around whether this daily rate is

:04:46. > :04:55.relevant. The pickup in economic activity means that the Fed will

:04:56. > :05:05.keep cutting it income. It has made a straight cut of 10 billion which

:05:06. > :05:12.sent US stocks soaring with the Dow setting records. Rockets at Japan

:05:13. > :05:25.Airlines slipped 3% but its rival took the biggest tumble with shares

:05:26. > :05:33.falling `` profits. Mongolia is said to be one of the rising forces in

:05:34. > :05:41.Asia and disputes in mining companies are causing a drop in

:05:42. > :05:45.investment. We talked to an expert about what the country is doing to

:05:46. > :05:51.attract investors. We are trying to make a significant changes so that

:05:52. > :06:03.Mongolia can become a favourable destination for Westerners. It has

:06:04. > :06:09.discovered a boom because of the discovery of commodities. When this

:06:10. > :06:13.happens, there tends to be a period of growth followed by a great fall.

:06:14. > :06:23.How does Mongolia intend to deal with that? We have China on our

:06:24. > :06:29.doorstep. Are you concerned about the possibility of a slowdown in

:06:30. > :06:36.China? Of course. They are our main market. We do not expect that it

:06:37. > :06:43.will change significantly in the decades to come. They have quite

:06:44. > :06:52.significant volumes of investments in the country and are improving

:06:53. > :06:59.infrastructure. Is Mongolia looking to expand its markets? In the next

:07:00. > :07:07.ten or 15 years, of course. We want to ship more raw commodities like

:07:08. > :07:12.coal. Also, at the same time, we want to add value to our local

:07:13. > :07:23.commodities and with the investment from western countries, we will be

:07:24. > :07:29.able to put more value into it. Every year come a India exports

:07:30. > :07:31.about $4 billion of fruit, vegetables and agricultural products

:07:32. > :07:38.to Europe and one of their most famous exports are mangoes which

:07:39. > :07:44.have been banned by the European Union today. Our correspondent

:07:45. > :07:50.explains why. Across India, tens of thousands of people do this job.

:07:51. > :07:54.Picking mangoes is tough work. There are just a few weeks to harvest the

:07:55. > :08:01.fruit and get it out to the customer. More than half of the

:08:02. > :08:04.world mangoes are grown here in India and just a fraction are

:08:05. > :08:09.available for sale. Of those markets, Europe is one of the most

:08:10. > :08:15.famous. But they now have a challenge. Fruit flies like these

:08:16. > :08:24.were found in a number of ship and sent from India to Europe and a band

:08:25. > :08:31.has been imposed on a number of fruits, including mangoes. For

:08:32. > :08:40.farmers, aims are OK for now. Most have contract for this year but for

:08:41. > :08:50.wholesalers, it is a headache. This man specializes in these mangoes,

:08:51. > :08:56.and explains his troubles. TRANSLATION: India has many buyers

:08:57. > :09:03.but because there are so many extra mangoes, the price is falling fast.

:09:04. > :09:09.The European Union says less than 5% of Indian produce is affected by the

:09:10. > :09:16.ban. What is British imports are, that is little consolation. He

:09:17. > :09:19.relies on these mangoes to get a premium through the quiet months. He

:09:20. > :09:28.has been stockpiling through the band and has started an online

:09:29. > :09:33.petition to try to turn it around. They are strict orders for

:09:34. > :09:38.agriculture and they are working to come up with solutions. India should

:09:39. > :09:44.be allowed to work through it rather than having a ban imposed. The

:09:45. > :09:48.European Union is open to talks from authorities and if you are convinced

:09:49. > :09:54.that the stock is safe, the band will be lifted before the next

:09:55. > :10:03.season. That is out, most mango farmers would happily pick. A quick

:10:04. > :10:20.look at the markets now. We saw the Dow closing at a record high ``

:10:21. > :10:26.DOW. We have many other markets that are closed for the holiday,

:10:27. > :10:33.Australia is opened and was slightly lower earlier today. That is all for

:10:34. > :10:48.this edition of Asia Business Report. Thank you for watching

:10:49. > :10:51.Welcome to BBC News, broadcasting to our viewers on public television in

:10:52. > :10:55.America and around the globe. I'm Adnan Nawaz.