16/05/2014 Asia Business Report

YouTube, the daily Telegraph and Guardian making a bit to host the

election debates. Now, the business report.

The countdown in India, with hours to go until the election results, we

hear from one family about their hopes for the newly elected

government. Malaysia Airlines use their losses, as the flight for ``

as the search for the missing flight continues. Welcome to today's

programme. After months of expectations and six weeks of

voting, today we will find out the biggest election on Earth 's

results. Our India business reporter is in mum by as the city wakes up to

what will undoubtedly be a very exciting day in politics. `` Mumbai.

It will be. People are getting out and about today. One hour from now,

at 8am local time, the counting of votes will begin. It is more than

550 million votes that need to be counted across the country. It will

be a while before we start seeing trends and who is leading in this

election. One place we could see an impact quickly is literally down the

road from where I am now. That is that the stock exchange. That has

seen soaring results in anticipation from this election. Given the things

that have happened in India over the past two years and the economic

slowdown, I can tell you that it was mostly economic issues at the heart

of the election. In fact, visited a family here to find out what it is

that they want from the new government that comes to power

today. This family are a middle`class

family in Mumbai, and they have actively been following the

election. Politics has been passionately discussed and hotly

debated in this household. I am sure you have seen about the elections. I

am hoping this level of anticipation continues among ordinary citizens. I

have never seen this includes jazz before. This man runs a small

factory on the outskirts of the city. `` such interviews years. He

expects the next government will make it easier to do business.

``enthusiasm. I expect the new government to come to power this

financial year. That is the expectation that we have. His wife

has faced different struggles. You are the person who runs this house

and buys the food required to feed the family. How has your budget

changed over the past year? It has tremendously increased. Three

times, four times, and you can see that. Milk has touched 63 rupees a

litre. We have to watch our spending. She wants a government who

can stabilise food prices or bring them down altogether. This election

depends on how youngsters have voted. This couple are under the age

of 25 and are both first`time voters. I would like to see change.

I want to be proud that I am from India. If it is just India `based,

it will be looked down upon. Quality should be assured. It depends on the

overall image of the country. They are pretty high expectations.

Families will be watching the new government closely. So they can see

if they can fulfil the promises they made to India's people during the

election campaign. We heard you talking to families in that report,

what about businesses? You have been speaking to them as

well, what have they been telling you? The man who was widely

expected, according to the polls here, expected to be the prime

minister, has been heading the western state for more than 12 years

now. His track record in that state has been his main page in the

election. Most of the businesses we have spoken to this year believe

that he has done a good job in that state and hope he can replicate that

kind of success across the country if he does become the Prime

Minister. India has seen some tough times in the past two years,

especially in manufacturing, businesses have struggled. Most say

that the government has not made it easy for them. There is a lot of red

tape involved to get any kind of licenses. Even paying taxes is hard.

They hope that this man can make it easier. There is anticipation that

if he comes to power, you could help deliver. The man I spoke to in that

video said that he expects turnover to double by the end of the year. ``

he could help. Thank you very much, and interesting and exciting day for

you and the team in India. In other news, we have fast food workers in

the United States, they have joined counterparts in Indonesia, Japan,

and Brazil to stage a global walkout protest about wages and working

conditions. Organisers have planned 230 protests

in 33 different countries. General Motors has announced the recall of a

further 2.7 million vehicles, most of them have brake light defects.

The giant said the recall will affect a number of different models

and will cost about $200 million. To Malaysia, and particularly its

airline, which saw the net loss widened by 59% in the first quarter,

to $138 million. The numbers come amid falling sales from China after

the still unexplained loss of flight MH 370. It is the fifth quarterly

net loss for Malaysia Airlines who have struggled with high fuel prices

and operational costs. The search for the missing flight continues in

waters north`west of the Australian city of Perth. Our correspondent is

in quantum per and she says the airline has braced itself for a

challenging year `` quantum per. There has been increased competition

in the region here ``Kuala Lumpar. There has been a drop in Chinese

tourists which is significant, the Chinese roots are not as popular,

despite falling prices. You have to remember that 200 missing passengers

were Chinese on that flight. There have been criticisms as to how the

situation has been handled. And how information has been given out, why

the plane has been missing for so long, and hours before they even

initiated the search in the first place. There has been a lot of anger

in that area. And the reason why there have been so many losses.

Liquefied national gas `` natural Liquefied national gas `` natural

gas for transport is a key energy source across Asia. Japan is one of

the main importers. Indonesia and Malaysia have big natural gas

reserves and are among the world is big for exporters. They shipped to

customers across the region, and increasingly they are looking to use

LNG for domestic consumption. Indonesia has 17,000 islands, and

the answer is small`scale processing plants that can take the gas to

other ports. The main purpose for the expansion is for domestic

purposes here in Singapore, and with the pew to a future market coming

up, and if we look at ships around us here. Many ships will use LNG as

a fuel, there is the possibility of small`scale deliveries to islands

and archipelagoes within a 1200 kilometre radius. How much demand is

therefore LNG for domestic use in Southeast Asia? What are the plans

for expansion? The issue has only started to come to light in Malaysia

and Indonesia in recent times. They were major exporters of LNG and

still are, in the North Asian market in Japan and Korea, but because of

the expansion of these countries in domestic requirements for power,

they are now beginning to consider diverging a proportion of the LNG

produced to the islands within the area. Your company has been involved

in the construction of a number of big plants. How do you go about

scaling them down? Originally, the plans were developed in the US in

the 1970s. It never got off the ground, because pricing of gas went

wrong, pricing of LNG went wrong, and it was abandoned. The actual

thought was put in there, so we understand the economics and how to

take it down to smaller scale units. Funnily enough, although it seems

counterintuitive, smaller units can be more efficient in terms of costs

than larger units. Because they are more simple and easy to operate and

easier to mass manufacture. We have seen that in other locations where

this occurs in China. Paul Sullivan. That is the end of this

edition of the business report. The main news stories this hour. After

five weeks of voting, counting is due to start of those in India's

biggest election.