:00:00. > :00:00.is the highest amount since records began. Now on BBC News all the
:00:00. > :00:20.latest business news live from Singapore. Can Thailand's military
:00:21. > :00:25.leaders help put to write the country's economic problems? Will
:00:26. > :00:29.selling its game consoles in China helped turn Sony's problems around
:00:30. > :00:39.red welcome to Asia Business Report. Thailand's leaders have been
:00:40. > :00:43.quick to say that the economic problems of the country need to be
:00:44. > :00:51.fixed and the military leaders have promised to find ways to boost
:00:52. > :00:56.economic growth. Now we go to our correspondant. This is one measure
:00:57. > :01:03.that could buy Thailand's military rulers some popularity. The ousted
:01:04. > :01:06.government's inability to make payments to farmers who had already
:01:07. > :01:11.pledged their crop was causing hardship. There were many reasons
:01:12. > :01:18.for that failure, the government blamed street protest which occupied
:01:19. > :01:21.several ministries and its limited mandate once Parliament was
:01:22. > :01:29.dissolved last December. The protesters argued that the scheme
:01:30. > :01:37.was to corrupt to be affordable `` too. The general is now paying
:01:38. > :01:44.outstanding debts to farmers which will provide some immediate relief.
:01:45. > :01:49.But with this system of supporting rice prices now abandoned, many of
:01:50. > :01:54.Thailand's farmers will face tough times soon. Perhaps the military
:01:55. > :01:58.will revive it, in which case they will have to design improvements
:01:59. > :02:06.over the old scheme at the time when they will be confronting many other
:02:07. > :02:10.complex economic challenges. So with the ongoing political uncertainty in
:02:11. > :02:15.Thailand, it would seem an unusual time for business to expand into the
:02:16. > :02:24.country but that is exactly what one is doing. ANZ has been granted the
:02:25. > :02:35.right to open a subsidiary in Thailand, despite the current tour
:02:36. > :02:41.model `` turmoil, they have a number of reasons for wanting to operate
:02:42. > :02:48.there. Earlier I spoke to a financial expert in Sydney. It seems
:02:49. > :02:51.like unusual timing but what they have been doing for the last decade
:02:52. > :02:57.is expanding across Asia and this is a well`thought`out strategy. They're
:02:58. > :03:04.not targeting the retail market but are trying to create a web of
:03:05. > :03:08.financial services that generate their income from an increase in
:03:09. > :03:12.transactions around Asia and Thailand is a major manufacturing
:03:13. > :03:19.hub and is an important part of that strategy, a strategy which is
:03:20. > :03:22.looking into the long`term. European elections have resulted in stunning
:03:23. > :03:26.gains for anti` European unions and anti` establishment parties but
:03:27. > :03:31.parties which support the European Union have sustained a majority of
:03:32. > :03:38.seats. We will now look at some of the implications of the vote. At a
:03:39. > :03:43.national level, there were some striking results. In France, it with
:03:44. > :03:50.the right that lame to victory with the National Front taking most of
:03:51. > :03:59.the votes. In Greece, it with the wreath in the left which made strong
:04:00. > :04:04.gains `` Syriza, and they are not anti` European Union but
:04:05. > :04:10.anti`austerity. For the eurozone as a whole, the downturn is over. There
:04:11. > :04:14.has been recovery for a year now but it has not been convincing. Some
:04:15. > :04:21.economies have failed to show sustained growth, with Italy in
:04:22. > :04:24.particular contracting. Many voters have also been angered by the
:04:25. > :04:30.response to the crisis from the European Union, across Europe
:04:31. > :04:35.governments have sought to cut spending and increase taxes. There
:04:36. > :04:49.were protests on the street and, come the elections, in the voting
:04:50. > :04:52.chamber. Will this make much difference? It is true that they
:04:53. > :04:57.have a much higher share now in European Parliament, that they will
:04:58. > :05:04.still be a minority, so I don't think they can influence
:05:05. > :05:10.policymaking decisively. Nigel Farage... Were many coming
:05:11. > :05:14.immigration is a big issue and on that they may struggle to make much
:05:15. > :05:21.impact on the European Union's policy for movement within Europe.
:05:22. > :05:24.Looking ahead, averment finances and public attitudes towards migration
:05:25. > :05:29.will depend to a large extent on the eurozone's economic recovery. The
:05:30. > :05:37.better it performs, the less the need for further austerity will be
:05:38. > :05:41.felt. So far, recovery has been weak and erratic and that is contributed
:05:42. > :05:48.to the political events that must now be dealt with. China plans to
:05:49. > :05:51.take more than 6 million older vehicles off roads this year to try
:05:52. > :05:57.to improve its air quality. Illusion has emerged as a key priority and as
:05:58. > :06:02.part of its goal to cut emissions over the next few years, the amount
:06:03. > :06:12.of vehicles allowed on the road will be reduced by 2015. The swearing`in
:06:13. > :06:18.of Narendra Modi in India marks a important market upswing in India,
:06:19. > :06:26.with analysts betting that he will unleash marketing reforms. Record
:06:27. > :06:36.gains happened on election day. A Californian jury ordered Samsung to
:06:37. > :06:41.pay Apple for infringing on its patent. They had been seeking
:06:42. > :06:44.damages of more than $2 million after accusing Samsung of copying
:06:45. > :06:49.five patrons including the slide and lock function. They have also fired
:06:50. > :06:57.an injunction to prevent them from using the patent it was found to
:06:58. > :07:02.have infringed. For more, just go to our website and click on the
:07:03. > :07:07.business section. Japan has got big ambitions for boosting profit and
:07:08. > :07:15.recent news from China could be a clue as to how they get their. ``
:07:16. > :07:20.there. They have signed a deal with Sony which will give them access to
:07:21. > :07:30.more than 5 million gamers in the country. How will the console
:07:31. > :07:34.manufacturers respond? Now we go to our correspondant. The big
:07:35. > :07:40.announcement is that the Playstation will now be available in China. If
:07:41. > :07:45.you come to some stores in Beijing, you can get your hands on some of
:07:46. > :07:53.them. Were 14 years, game consoles were banned here. There were worries
:07:54. > :07:58.that they would affect the minds of the nation's youths. The irony is
:07:59. > :08:01.that they were made here in China. That all changed this year when
:08:02. > :08:10.authorities announced that they would be lifting the ban. Sony is
:08:11. > :08:15.moving in and the Xbox will soon be available in China as well. But
:08:16. > :08:19.there is one catch to all of this. They will have to be made in
:08:20. > :08:23.Shanghai's free`trade zone but the authorities think it is worth it
:08:24. > :08:36.with the gaming industry increasing more than 5% last year and being
:08:37. > :08:41.worth more than $10 billion. They say that Sony is counting on its
:08:42. > :08:48.game consoles for growth. The media industry, the television and mobile
:08:49. > :08:54.and laptop businesses, Sony has been trying to diversify throughout
:08:55. > :09:00.them. They're looking at mobile and gaming and the latter has been doing
:09:01. > :09:08.the best. But China's gaming market is already dominated by online
:09:09. > :09:17.games, PCs and mobile games which are much cheaper. That is true but
:09:18. > :09:20.console games are more addictive and the average amount of play is much
:09:21. > :09:27.higher on those for the average gamer. China's gaming industry is
:09:28. > :09:36.still run by online gamers but that is what Sony and Microsoft will want
:09:37. > :09:41.to target. Beijing has lifted a ban on gaming consoles, it is now a free
:09:42. > :09:44.for all. Even Chinese manufacturers will be able to distribute and sell
:09:45. > :09:54.which they haven't been able to do in the past. It will get Microsoft
:09:55. > :09:58.has already announced their intention to come in in September of
:09:59. > :10:01.this year. I'm sure that Chinese gaming console players will start
:10:02. > :10:06.get into the business and start manufacturing as well. Or will be
:10:07. > :10:12.huge pressure and one of the things that Sony and Microsoft will have to
:10:13. > :10:19.do is to look at that, the pricing in the Chinese market. Here is a
:10:20. > :10:25.look at the markets in Asia, they are lackluster as US markets were
:10:26. > :10:39.closed for the holidays. Thank you so much, bye for now. The top
:10:40. > :10:42.stories this hour. Ukrainian troops have launched an assault on an
:10:43. > :10:44.airport seized by pro`Russian fighters, as the country's new
:10:45. > :10:47.president offers to negotiate with Moscow to end the crisis. The
:10:48. > :10:51.Nigerian military claims it has located the 200 missing school girls
:10:52. > :10:52.abducted by Boko Haram militants, but it rules out using force