19/05/2014 Asia Business Report


19/05/2014

Similar Content

Browse content similar to 19/05/2014. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!

Transcript


LineFromTo

Guard has now called off a rescue operation. Those are our main

:00:00.:00:07.

headlines. Now on BBC News, all the latest business news live from

:00:08.:00:15.

Singapore. China evacuate thousands of its citizens from Vietnam, as

:00:16.:00:18.

rising territorial tensions sparked protest. And Thailand's economy is

:00:19.:00:28.

being hurt by the political instability, with some warning it

:00:29.:00:37.

may fall into recession. Hello and welcome to Asia Business Report. We

:00:38.:00:44.

start with Vietnam this morning, where a wave of anti`Chinese

:00:45.:00:51.

protests are straining ties. China is sending five ships to pull out

:00:52.:00:55.

more than 3000 of its citizens, after rising tensions over the South

:00:56.:01:00.

China Sea sparked violent demonstrations. Two Chinese

:01:01.:01:04.

nationals were killed and more than 100 injured, after Vietnamese mobs

:01:05.:01:06.

looted and torched businesses. We have been speaking to our

:01:07.:01:14.

correspondent. Tensions have calmed down. It is a precautionary measure

:01:15.:01:25.

now. So I have talked to many locals in the city and generally, people

:01:26.:01:28.

are going about their business as usual. There are just some sporadic

:01:29.:01:34.

cases where there is possible discrimination. We know that the

:01:35.:01:39.

government of Vietnam have been urging protesters to calm down, but

:01:40.:01:42.

what are they doing in terms of reaching out and talking to their

:01:43.:01:45.

Chinese counterparts, and how much could something like this impact

:01:46.:01:51.

business relations in the long`term? Vietnam has to maintain a careful

:01:52.:01:57.

balance. So it is certainly reaching out to China and reassuring them

:01:58.:02:00.

that they are keeping things under control here, but at the same time

:02:01.:02:04.

on the day are also demanding that China removes its oil rig from the

:02:05.:02:07.

South China Sea, and in terms of business, it is important for

:02:08.:02:10.

Vietnam to reassure China that it is OK to reinvest here, and they are

:02:11.:02:13.

considering tax`free loans for the businesses that have been damaged.

:02:14.:02:31.

Because China, is, as you said its biggest trading partner `` trading

:02:32.:02:36.

partner. They are trading partners in the multibillion`dollar range.

:02:37.:02:46.

Good political unrest in Thailand see its economy shrank for the first

:02:47.:02:49.

time in a year? That is what people are watching for, as growth numbers

:02:50.:02:55.

are set to show how big of an impact the ongoing crisis is having on

:02:56.:02:58.

business and investment. Forecasters expect the GDP to shrink by 1.6%.

:02:59.:03:05.

Compared with the previous three months, and on an annual basis this

:03:06.:03:09.

could be the weakest growth since the devastating floods of 2011. I

:03:10.:03:12.

was speaking to an expert about this, asking whether investors

:03:13.:03:14.

should worry about Thailand's history of unrest. Over the last 72

:03:15.:03:31.

years, we have had 11 military coups in the last few years, with the last

:03:32.:03:37.

one being in 2006. So we are long overdue for one now, and that is one

:03:38.:03:44.

way of looking at it. The military, the army, has already said that if

:03:45.:03:49.

there is no stability in the country, the military will step in

:03:50.:03:54.

and take over. Ultimately what you need to remember is that in order

:03:55.:03:58.

for a country to function properly, you must have stability, and that

:03:59.:04:00.

has not been provided by the government. Having a caretaker

:04:01.:04:03.

government is not going to get it done. What they need to do is put

:04:04.:04:08.

the army into place to provide political stability, if it does not

:04:09.:04:11.

come from within, and then people will be able to spend money,

:04:12.:04:14.

companies will be able to invest, and they will start getting the

:04:15.:04:18.

country going again. So you are saying that a military coup could

:04:19.:04:21.

help the country get going again? It has to. If people cannot go to work

:04:22.:04:25.

because they are too worried about what is happening in the streets,

:04:26.:04:27.

then companies won't invest, and political stability will not be

:04:28.:04:38.

provided. And who is going to provide it? In most developing

:04:39.:04:41.

economies, that stability is provided by the people themselves,

:04:42.:04:44.

but with this conflict going on between the two sides, it is

:04:45.:04:47.

insurmountable, and so the Army may have to come in and rewrite the

:04:48.:04:50.

rules, and put in an interim government and have elections again.

:04:51.:04:59.

And then Thailand will be able to grow for the next few years. In

:05:00.:05:09.

other news, making headlines, Japan's machinery orders, a key

:05:10.:05:15.

indicator of business spending, surged to the highest in a decade.

:05:16.:05:22.

They rose by a record 19.1% on the month. That is significantly higher

:05:23.:05:32.

than was forecast for a 6% gain. This is due to businesses spending

:05:33.:05:40.

ahead of an increased sales tax which began on one April. Pfizer has

:05:41.:05:44.

engaged in its final attempt at talks to merge with AstraZeneca, and

:05:45.:05:46.

are prepared to offer several billion dollars after their initial

:05:47.:05:55.

bid was rejected as not high enough. If it goes through, it would be the

:05:56.:06:01.

healthcare industry's biggest ever acquisition. AT is spending a lot

:06:02.:06:05.

of money to increase its presence in the global television market.

:06:06.:06:08.

However, some analysts warn that they may face resistance from

:06:09.:06:13.

investors. Swiss voters have rejected a plan for the world's

:06:14.:06:21.

highest minimum wage. Trade unions had opposed an hourly wage of 25 US

:06:22.:06:27.

dollars or $4500 per month. However, polls or nearly 80% of Swiss voters

:06:28.:06:36.

turning it down, spurring a sigh of relief amongst businesses who said

:06:37.:06:40.

they couldn't afford it. Negotiators for the US led trade pact,

:06:41.:06:45.

transpacific partnership, are meeting here in Singapore, after 20

:06:46.:06:51.

rounds of talks so far. If passed, it will cover 40% of world trade.

:06:52.:06:54.

While progress is being made, the final agreement is still a way off.

:06:55.:06:57.

What will it take for this trade deal to be completed? It is my view

:06:58.:07:06.

that politics are beginning to complicate what had been some good

:07:07.:07:12.

progress. As you know, in the United States, the President was not given

:07:13.:07:17.

the fast track authority to push this through. And the vulnerability

:07:18.:07:20.

of the engagement is significant. The politics in America are

:07:21.:07:23.

approaching midterm elections in November, which means that the

:07:24.:07:25.

president is going to be very sensitive to what it might mean to

:07:26.:07:31.

the voting public. By the same token, the Japanese Prime Minister

:07:32.:07:33.

needs significant political support to press forward with his programme,

:07:34.:07:36.

and to try to support that programme, he may not want to take

:07:37.:07:39.

on the constituencies in agriculture and manufacturing. And those are the

:07:40.:07:50.

things I think which have prolonged the talks to this point. India goes

:07:51.:08:01.

back to work today, knowing it is the beginning of a new era. Results

:08:02.:08:06.

in the general election show that the BJP will form the next

:08:07.:08:10.

government with a healthy majority. The Prime Minister elect, Narendra

:08:11.:08:14.

Modi, has a strong mandate to revitalise the economy. Our

:08:15.:08:22.

correspondent in Mumbai looks at what that means for India. The

:08:23.:08:26.

marathon election is over, the results are out, and it is official.

:08:27.:08:35.

This man is set to become the next Prime Minister. Improving the

:08:36.:08:38.

economy was one of his main pledges during the election campaign. Not

:08:39.:08:41.

surprising considering that it is growing at its slowest pace in the

:08:42.:08:47.

last decade. So what are the key challenges which Narendra Modi faces

:08:48.:08:52.

on the economic front? More than half of India's population is under

:08:53.:08:56.

the age of 25. In fact, India needs to create more than 10 million jobs

:08:57.:09:02.

every year to employ it young workforce. One way of doing that is

:09:03.:09:10.

by giving a big push to small and medium`sized businesses along with

:09:11.:09:13.

large scale manufacturing. This can help in in creating millions of

:09:14.:09:19.

jobs. One of the biggest hurdles to the economy has been infrastructure.

:09:20.:09:22.

India needs more roads, power plants, and airports. Some of these

:09:23.:09:29.

have been partially completed but were stalled due to political

:09:30.:09:32.

wrangling and policy issues. So if the new government can cut through

:09:33.:09:36.

that read tape and get these off the ground, and at the same time create

:09:37.:09:43.

some new infrastructure projects, that will give a big boost to the

:09:44.:09:46.

economy. High food prices have been a big concern for India, along with

:09:47.:09:53.

inflation. That is one key reason why many people voted against the

:09:54.:09:58.

last government. Dealing with inflation is a contract issue. The

:09:59.:10:04.

weather lays a big part in it. Experts say that India can improve

:10:05.:10:07.

prices by improving its storage facilities. That will save a lot of

:10:08.:10:14.

food that rocks during the off`season, and in turn pushes up

:10:15.:10:21.

food prices. `` the weather plays a big part in it. There are many

:10:22.:10:26.

multinationals here. Over the last few years, many have pulled out all

:10:27.:10:30.

stayed away. They feel India does not want them. Many have clashed

:10:31.:10:35.

with the government or tax `` overtaxed or policy issues. It is

:10:36.:10:39.

considered a tough place to do business, so the new government will

:10:40.:10:43.

have to focus on improving the business environment, which will

:10:44.:10:47.

help in improving the business cycle. Looking at our top story

:10:48.:10:48.

again,

:10:49.:10:50.

Download Subtitles

SRT

ASS