:00:00. > :00:00.travelled to Syria to join a terrorist training camp. Now on BBC
:00:00. > :00:16.News all the latest business news live from Singapore. China and
:00:17. > :00:20.Russia have yet to sign a $400 billion energy deal over a price
:00:21. > :00:22.dispute. Japan posts a trade shortfall for a 22nd`straight month
:00:23. > :00:36.due to its dependence on foreign gas. Thank you for watching Asia
:00:37. > :00:40.Business Report. We are still waiting to hear if a huge deal will
:00:41. > :00:42.be signed for Russia to begin supplying gas to China. Russia's
:00:43. > :00:46.President, Vladimir Putin, is in Shanghai as part of his first trip
:00:47. > :00:54.to the mainland since President Xi Jinping took office. Discussions
:00:55. > :00:57.around the multibillion`dollar deal have been going on for a decade, but
:00:58. > :00:59.pressure from the West over actions in Ukraine have meant that Russia is
:01:00. > :01:36.keen to nurture a big new customer. China is already Russia's largest
:01:37. > :01:38.single trading partner, with bilateral trade between the two
:01:39. > :01:42.giants coming to $US90 billion last year. But the neighbours want to
:01:43. > :01:45.double that to $200 billion by the end the decade. I spoke to a member
:01:46. > :01:50.of the Energy Studies Institute, asking him whether he thinks China
:01:51. > :01:52.will pay for the gas deal. It can afford the price, it is already
:01:53. > :01:55.paying high prices from Turkmenistan, it is whether it is
:01:56. > :01:58.willing to pay the price. What are the other alternatives for China if
:01:59. > :02:05.they don't close this deal, which has been going on now for ten years?
:02:06. > :02:07.It can boost other sources of gas. Gas from Central Asia, and imported
:02:08. > :02:12.gas by ship as liquefied natural gas. At home, it is already building
:02:13. > :02:15.lots of cold gas plants, and it is trying to develop shale gas. What
:02:16. > :02:18.about for Russia? Are they desperate to sign this deal, and if the deal
:02:19. > :02:21.is not signed, what implications will there be? I think politically
:02:22. > :02:25.it is very important for Vladimir Putin to show to Europe that it has
:02:26. > :02:27.other potential customers. But I think domestically it wants to
:02:28. > :02:30.develop these fields in the East, these gas fields, and it wants to
:02:31. > :03:39.Siberia. It wants this deal for Siberia. It wants this deal for
:03:40. > :03:42.political and economic purposes. In other economic news, Japan's trade
:03:43. > :03:45.deficit shrank to $8 billion in April, after lower consumer spending
:03:46. > :03:48.and a reduced demand for imports. They rose by 3.4% from a year ago,
:03:49. > :03:51.the least in 16 months. Exports showed a pickup, rising 5.1% from
:03:52. > :03:55.earlier, compared to estimates for a 4.8% gain. Earlier I spoke to Japan
:03:56. > :03:58.economist to get his take on the numbers. The overall trade balance
:03:59. > :04:01.is more in the minus than expected, but for once, it is a good result,
:04:02. > :04:04.because it shows that imports remain strong in Japan. They have been very
:04:05. > :04:08.high, because people have been buying in March to fill up on
:04:09. > :04:11.anything that gets more costly with a sales tax hike in April. Compared
:04:12. > :04:14.to last year, overall imports are still at plus 3%, that is a very
:04:15. > :04:17.strong result, and shows that demand in Japan remains high and the
:04:18. > :04:21.economy is doing comparatively well. What are we likely to see from
:04:22. > :04:24.demand numbers? What we see so far is that exports are increasing as
:04:25. > :04:27.well. This has been one big concern, because demand in Japan has been
:04:28. > :04:29.boosted unofficially over the last year, with monetary policy and
:04:30. > :04:32.fiscal policy and the sales tax hike, but now we see that exporters
:04:33. > :04:35.are pushing forward, going into overseas markets again, as demand is
:04:36. > :04:38.lower in Japan, so the overall result is balanced and positive. For
:04:39. > :04:40.Abenomics to be able to be successful in the
:04:41. > :04:43.medium`to`longer`term, we have to see now the PM instituting
:04:44. > :04:46.structural reforms to sustain this growth. That is now one point. We
:04:47. > :04:49.will have an announcement from the Bank of Japan today, and many people
:04:50. > :04:51.have been hoping it would be pushing further, rescuing the economy even
:04:52. > :04:56.more, but there is no rescuing being needed so far. There might be very
:04:57. > :04:58.little extra on that site, and for Abenomics we are hoping for
:04:59. > :05:00.structural reform. Cutting corporate taxes, boosting sectors by
:05:01. > :05:03.deregulation, and the government going into a more relaxed mode,
:05:04. > :05:06.where discussions will come up with less than would be needed. That
:05:07. > :05:08.would be a negative. In other business news, General Motors is
:05:09. > :05:11.recalling another 2.6 million vehicles. This is because of
:05:12. > :05:13.possible defects. It includes faulty seatbelts, transmissions, airbags
:05:14. > :05:17.and fire issues. The US motor giant has recall 50 million cars in total
:05:18. > :05:19.this year. That is expected to cost the firm $400 million. Pfizer is
:05:20. > :05:22.still looking to take control of AstraZeneca, after the second
:05:23. > :05:25.takeover bid was rejected. According to reports, Pfizer is vying to get
:05:26. > :05:27.support for its $117 billion offer from AstraZeneca shareholders. The
:05:28. > :05:31.offer was turned down on Tuesday, saying it was too low and did not
:05:32. > :05:34.account for the value of future medicine. A deal between the two
:05:35. > :06:05.companies would have created the world's biggest drugs group. For
:06:06. > :06:08.more on that story, log on to our website. One in three South Asians
:06:09. > :06:12.paid a bribe in 2012, making it one of the world's most corrupt regions.
:06:13. > :06:14.The findings are from the anti`corruption group Transparency
:06:15. > :06:17.International have found severe corruption in India. They are hoping
:06:18. > :06:21.that the new government will lead the charge in dealing with this.
:06:22. > :06:24.First of all, I believe that all of the government in Asia will need to
:06:25. > :06:27.send a strong message that politics will be kept away from the public
:06:28. > :06:34.sector and all the institutions. A clear message will need to be sent
:06:35. > :06:37.out to all the stakeholders. In India particularly, a new act will
:06:38. > :06:40.need to be implemented, and that is what the Indian people have been
:06:41. > :06:44.looking for some time. It is time now to pull this together. Secondly,
:06:45. > :06:49.there are a number of laws that are waiting to be passed in India, and
:06:50. > :06:53.these need to be put in place as the very first priority. Those will be
:06:54. > :06:56.some of the first few steps that need to be taken immediately,
:06:57. > :07:02.especially into the new Narendra Modi government, where people are
:07:03. > :07:05.looking forward to seeing changes. Asian nations are increasingly
:07:06. > :07:08.looking to Australia to help feed the growing populations. Beef and
:07:09. > :07:10.fresh vegetables make up much of the demand even though Australia is
:07:11. > :07:14.relying on growth in the agricultural sector to help secure
:07:15. > :07:17.its economic future. One product reflecting the increased demand is
:07:18. > :07:25.the export of live goats and goat meat. Phil Mercer has more from
:07:26. > :07:32.Cobar in New South Wales. In Australia's rugged outback, roam
:07:33. > :07:36.vast numbers of wild goats. Feral herds have become part of a
:07:37. > :07:38.lucrative and growing industry. Australia is the world's largest
:07:39. > :08:18.exporter of goat meat, and suppliers believe the industry is about to
:08:19. > :08:21.experience a boom. I can see it doubling. It has just got that
:08:22. > :08:28.potential to keep growing, with the amount of feral goats. They say the
:08:29. > :08:31.anywhere between one million and two anywhere between one million and two
:08:32. > :08:34.million. A huge number of goats can be supplied. 100,000 goats are
:08:35. > :08:38.processed at this depot in Cobar in New South Wales, caught usually by
:08:39. > :08:41.farmers who consider them to be a pest. It is either sold to domestic
:08:42. > :08:44.consumers here in Australia or to a growing international market. There
:08:45. > :08:47.is also a thriving trade in farm animals. These meaty specimens on a
:08:48. > :08:50.property near the town of Orange are a robust variety brought to
:08:51. > :08:53.Australia from South Africa in the 1980s. They are part of a growing
:08:54. > :08:56.business, sending live exports to Asia. We mainly sell to Malaysia and
:08:57. > :09:00.Thailand, but our goats mainly go for breeding, so the people who come
:09:01. > :09:03.here to look at my animals are looking for a good`quality stud
:09:04. > :09:05.animal that will fit into what their breeding programme is. Other popular
:09:06. > :09:08.markets include Singapore and Brunei. It is a multimillion`dollar
:09:09. > :09:11.trade in meat that has risen sharply in recent years. Australian goat
:09:12. > :09:14.exports have doubled in the past decade. While much is sold to the
:09:15. > :09:25.US, there is a growing appetite in Asia. We have seen recent export
:09:26. > :09:27.orders coming from such countries, Malaysia, China, Maria, the
:09:28. > :09:37.Philippines, and prices have lifted up phenomenally. It seems to be
:09:38. > :10:13.getting bigger and bigger each week, each month and each year. The
:10:14. > :10:16.industry has had its problems, with inconsistent supply and quality. But
:10:17. > :10:19.both suppliers here insist that their animals are among the best in
:10:20. > :10:22.the world, and are boosting not only the Australian economy, but are
:10:23. > :10:38.helping to feed and ever hungrier Asia. Before we go, don't forget to
:10:39. > :10:42.follow us on Twitter. Thank you for joining us. The top stories this
:10:43. > :10:46.hour: At least 118 people have died after two explosions in the Nigerian
:10:47. > :10:49.city of Jos hit a market and hospital. It is thought more bodies
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