:00:00. > :00:10.regarding his speeding points. Now on BBC News, all the latest business
:00:11. > :00:12.news live from Singapore. Political crisis and a shrinking economy, how
:00:13. > :00:18.much more damage than Thailand's political stalemate do to the
:00:19. > :00:28.country's finances? And Air Asia revs up for take`off in India, we
:00:29. > :00:36.find out how it plans to compete. Welcome to Asia Business Report.
:00:37. > :00:38.Thailand may be a step closer to ending its long`running political
:00:39. > :00:41.crisis. PM Yingluck Shinawatra's caretaker government has agreed to
:00:42. > :00:48.hold a new election in July, following months of street protest.
:00:49. > :00:51.However, the PM still faces the risk of being removed from office by the
:00:52. > :00:54.courts. She has been given until today to submit her defence against
:00:55. > :00:59.allegations of abuse of power, but she is not expected to testify in
:01:00. > :01:09.court. The crisis has taken its toll on Thailand's economy, and we speak
:01:10. > :01:15.to an Asian economist. I asked him how long the turmoil will last. The
:01:16. > :01:18.key factor will be to what extent we see a rebound in domestic
:01:19. > :01:21.confidence, and there has to be some clarity on the political front.
:01:22. > :01:29.Without clarity, investment can't take place, and commerce will
:01:30. > :01:34.stagnate. So that is really the main drag. Political certainty is still a
:01:35. > :01:37.long way away. Are you as confident as the finance ministry, which is
:01:38. > :01:40.sticking to its forecast of growth of 6.4% for this year? It has only
:01:41. > :01:49.forecasting one quarter of contraction, you think it could get
:01:50. > :01:53.to two quarters of contraction? I think it is optimistic. I think
:01:54. > :01:55.officials like to be optimistic, on the assumption that hopefully
:01:56. > :01:58.political clarity could become clearer in the next weeks and
:01:59. > :02:01.months. For that to happen, export has to recover, the global economy
:02:02. > :02:07.has to be firm, and investment and consumption has to take place. I'm
:02:08. > :02:13.not quite sure that will happen just yet. How big an impact has it had on
:02:14. > :02:20.investment and consumption? What are companies and businesses doing?
:02:21. > :02:28.Particularly given the government having live limited powers. ``
:02:29. > :02:30.having limited powers. We are not quite sure how the political
:02:31. > :02:33.uncertainty can drag on, let's hold onto investment decisions, holding
:02:34. > :02:36.onto expansion, because if consumers are not doing anything, the
:02:37. > :02:43.companies are not going to take the lead. What are the risks that a new
:02:44. > :02:46.election will not resolve anything? If companies are still set on the
:02:47. > :02:49.goal, but they do not want Yingluck Shinawatra in power, then it is
:02:50. > :02:55.something that could go on for months. Who knows? Uncertainty is
:02:56. > :03:02.the keyword for the next few months. After eight years at the
:03:03. > :03:06.helm, the boss of the Ford Motor Co, Alan Mullaly, is stepping down. His
:03:07. > :03:08.era came to an end with much fanfare, as he is credited with
:03:09. > :03:15.rescuing the country from the Global Financial Crisis. And setting it on
:03:16. > :03:24.the road to expansion. Mark Fields is set to replace him. He has vowed
:03:25. > :03:27.to continue the legacy. My plan is to build on their success, we would
:03:28. > :03:31.like to accelerate our pace of progress, because we are just
:03:32. > :03:55.starting to see the benefits and the power of the One Ford plan.
:03:56. > :03:58.Opponents to the government have demonstrated in Kuala Lumpur.
:03:59. > :04:00.Malaysian Budget carrier Air Asia is thought to be the first
:04:01. > :04:03.international brand to fly domestic routes in India. Low`cost airlines
:04:04. > :04:07.have struggled in India, so how does Air Asia plan to compete? We caught
:04:08. > :04:11.up with the chief executive of Air Asia India, Mittu Chandilya, to find
:04:12. > :04:15.out. We're dealing with a cost structure that is significantly
:04:16. > :04:17.higher than most other countries. We have fuel, which is extremely
:04:18. > :04:27.expensive, tax on fuel, which is very expensive. Bundle those
:04:28. > :04:38.together, and 50% of your P is locked in. Then, we have issues
:04:39. > :04:50.around payroll, salaries, and infrastructure costs. There are no
:04:51. > :05:01.low cost airlines. We are dealing with a cost structure significantly
:05:02. > :05:05.higher than most other countries. The areas in which you can optimise,
:05:06. > :05:08.that had to do with pushing revenues up, and that is not by raising
:05:09. > :05:17.fares, but by making sure the volumes are being catered to. It is
:05:18. > :05:27.by constantly looking at your costs in bringing back down. How has the
:05:28. > :05:30.competition welcomed you? They weren't happy when you announced
:05:31. > :05:34.your plans of entering India. That is a good question! I think we
:05:35. > :05:37.welcome the competition, and I truly believe in that. I think competition
:05:38. > :05:44.is a great thing, and no competitor is going to just let us walk in
:05:45. > :05:48.through the front door. It has not been easy, there has been a lot of
:05:49. > :05:51.fighting going on, and I think it is going to be a beautiful thing, and
:05:52. > :06:14.the only people who will benefit other people of India. `` are the
:06:15. > :06:17.people of India. You can see more on that and other business stories from
:06:18. > :06:24.across India this weekend on our India Business Report. To China,
:06:25. > :06:27.where possible new rules on the use of commodities to back loans are
:06:28. > :06:30.pushing down the price of iron ore, and could in turn cause problems for
:06:31. > :06:33.the steel mills. Steel mills have been one side of China's dynamic
:06:34. > :06:36.economy. They are the backbone of China's skyscrapers and factories.
:06:37. > :06:42.The key ingredient of steel is iron ore, which has seen its price pushed
:06:43. > :06:47.up by China's insatiable demand. Until now. China is the biggest
:06:48. > :06:50.importer of iron ore in the world, taking approximately 60% of the iron
:06:51. > :06:59.ore market. At the moment it is very much demand`driven, rather than the
:07:00. > :07:03.supply side of the balance sheet. Which would be exports out of
:07:04. > :07:06.Australia, that is fine, and we are really looking at what is happening
:07:07. > :07:09.in China. We are looking at macro growth, whether China can maintain
:07:10. > :07:14.its growth targets, which have been set above 7%. So the market is very
:07:15. > :07:23.set on what is happening, and whether it can be facilitated, which
:07:24. > :07:28.is the availability of credit. But as growth in the economy slowed,
:07:29. > :07:32.stocks of iron ore built up, and prices fell. The problem is, many of
:07:33. > :07:39.these steel mills not only possessed iron ore, but used it as a form of
:07:40. > :07:42.trade finance. `` process. In other words, they used it as collateral
:07:43. > :07:45.for loans. Authorities are now concerned about the risks behind
:07:46. > :07:48.such deals. To address these fears, regulators have asked banks to
:07:49. > :07:55.re`examine how iron ore imports are paid for. But that could make
:07:56. > :07:58.matters worse. On the back of this announcement, the price of iron ore
:07:59. > :08:01.futures fell dramatically in recent days. Investors are now concerned
:08:02. > :08:10.that a flood of iron ore stocks may be dumped in the market, which would
:08:11. > :08:13.push prices down even further. Microsoft says users of its Windows
:08:14. > :08:17.XP operating system will also get the security update it has issued to
:08:18. > :08:20.fix a flaw in the Internet Explorer browser. It issued the update on
:08:21. > :08:23.Thursday to fix the bug, that could let hackers gain access and user IDs
:08:24. > :08:26.to computers. Microsoft ended support for Windows XP earlier this
:08:27. > :08:35.month, which means no bug fixes and security updates for it. Apple and
:08:36. > :08:39.Samsung could get the verdict in their crucial patent infringement
:08:40. > :08:42.case as early as this weekend. The world's two largest smartphone
:08:43. > :08:50.makers have been battling it out in a Californian court over the past
:08:51. > :08:53.month. As Richard Taylor reports from San Francisco, billions of
:08:54. > :08:56.dollars are at stake. This is just the latest feud between these
:08:57. > :08:59.technology Titans, and unlike the trial of a few years back, this one
:09:00. > :09:21.is focused much more on the software inside the devices. At stake are
:09:22. > :09:23.five patents, which Apple value at over $2 billion. Because the
:09:24. > :09:26.arguments have centred around software, another Silicon Valley
:09:27. > :09:28.giant, Google, has been invoked. Google make the Android operating
:09:29. > :09:31.system that runs inside the Samsung handsets. As such, a primary strand
:09:32. > :09:34.of Samsung's argument is in effect that Apple are fingering the wrong
:09:35. > :09:37.target. Google executives have taken the stand to argue that they
:09:38. > :09:40.developed the software, not Apple. Apple have disagreed with that, and
:09:41. > :09:43.tried to convince the jury that Samsung are to blame, because they
:09:44. > :09:46.are wilfully using it inside their handsets. Regardless of the verdict,
:09:47. > :09:49.you can be sure that, if past experience is anything to go by,
:09:50. > :09:53.this trial will run on a lot longer, with appeals and counter appeals set
:09:54. > :09:56.to ensue. Even when the saga ends on the West Coast of America, you can
:09:57. > :10:09.ensure it will continue in courtrooms around the globe. `` you
:10:10. > :10:13.can be sure. Before we go, a quick check on the markets. And Asian
:10:14. > :10:21.shares have started the date relatively subdued. The Hang Seng up
:10:22. > :10:27.151. A lot of investors will have an eye on the key US payroll numbers,
:10:28. > :10:36.which are due out later today. That's it for Asia Business Report.
:10:37. > :10:40.Thank you for watching. The top stories this hour: Police in Nigeria
:10:41. > :10:41.say 19 people have been killed and 60 injured in