02/06/2014 Asia Business Report

That is at least 50 more than previously thought. The youngest

alleged victim was just two years old. Now all the latest business

news live from Singapore. Size of improvement in the world's

second`largest economy. Growth in China's manufacturing hit a

five`month high. And what can businesses do about the effect of

unpredictable climate patterns on the world's water supply?

Thank you for joining us on Asia Business Report. Efforts by the

Chinese government to boost growth in the economy are showing early

signs of success, figures measuring the output in May show the fastest

pace of growth for five months. But there are still worries about

weakness in the property market as well as disappointing growth in

investment and consumption. I think there are two reasons for that.

Foreign demand, we have seen an export growth. And the stimulus

measures you mentioned, they have created a rebound in infrastructure

investment. That is helping to support the manufacturing. And the

Chinese government wants to sustain this growth in factory output

because on Friday they introduced fresh measures such as lower funding

costs and reducing operational costs. Exactly. There are still

concerns that the property sector is putting a lot of pressure on the

economy. That has forced them to consider further stimulus measures.

Do we expect more of the stimulus initiatives coming from the Chinese

government, more targeted measures, rather than a massive stimulus

package? That is one of the interesting things this year and

last year. The government has avoided rolling out across the

board. That reflects the fact that they do not want to see a renewed

credit boom. They want to support growth, but not at the expense of

future growth. I definitely would not want to rule out further

targeted measures. I do not think we will see across the board listening.

On Tuesday, we have the final PMI reading from HSBC. That focuses on

smaller companies and private firms. That number will be interesting to

see if that number confirms what we saw in the flash reading, which was

interesting to look at the number interesting to look at the number

and see if this showing what the upper indicators are showing, that

things are looking better than they were at the beginning of this

quarter. Flights have resumed in Australia after an ash cloud from an

Indonesian volcano cleared. The volcanic dust had stopped

flights from South East Asia to Perth and Darwin. An Indonesian

volcano is still erupting and that could impact flights to Bali in the

coming days. All eyes are on the worldwide

developers conference in San Francisco, where Apple is expected

to unveil the next version of the iPhone and Mac software.

It covers two thirds of the world's surface and yet at times it can be

worryingly scarce. We will be hearing from the president of the

world water Council for his views on how visitors can head off any water

shortages. On the south`western coast of the

world's trice the world's priced inhabited continent sits Perth.

Australia's driest major city. The chronic lack of rain in recent years

has forced the authorities to rethink their approach to water. The

aim has been to drought proof a city of almost 2 million people. Western

Australia has seen climate change happen faster and earlier than

almost anywhere else on the planet. In the last 15 years, the water from

rain into our dams has dropped to 1/6 of what it used to be before

that. To help satisfy a thirsty and growing population of the

desalination plant reduces more than 150 millilitres of drinking water

every day. Now half of the city's water supplies can come from the

sea. Recycling and pumping waste water into tanks are part of a grand

plan. We have got two desalination plants. We have also been trailing

and made the decision to go down the path of groundwater. We need to

become rest reliant on rental. Creating green oases as well as

guaranteeing supplies is not cheap. Desalination is an expensive

process. Although household consumption has been falling, bills

have doubled in recent years. The authorities believe that Perth can

show Read deprived cities in other countries how to become green and

inviting. `` water deprived. The president of the world water

Council explains what businesses can do. Working on the demand side,

making sure that people understand the importance of water and using it

efficiently and on the other hand by providing the infrastructure like

reservoirs and dams that need to be had in order to make us more

resilient. Do Asian governments understand this immediate problem? I

hope they will start understanding it, because we used to say that

water is a local problem, but we know now that this local problems

affect the global economy. Take the flooding in Thailand in 2011 and the

droughts here now. They all have impacts on the production of these

countries. Are there opportunities for innovative companies to be part

of this immediate issue that has to be addressed? Absolutely. This is

critical. In some situations, we will have two reuse sewage.

Technology plays a very important role and there is an opportunity for

companies to work in this area. The president of the world water

Council. India can always come this year's

election with a new government. Millions of voters came away with

something else, ink on their fingers. For one company, all of

those add up to a tiny profit. Having each painted on your finger

is designed to stop fraud. But it has also become a symbol of pride.

Snapping a picture of your finger to put on Facebook, Twitter or

Instagram proved popular with celebrities and regular voters

alike. It was made right here at this back to `` factory. They sent

out 2.1 million bottles all over India. Now the elections are over. I

have come to find out what difference it made to the company

and what are they going to do now. While things are pretty quiet at the

moment it was a very different story just a few months ago. We have got

around 60 workers. We employed more workers from outsourcing. We took

150 workers and 50 days to manufacture the end. It has been in

this business since 1962. Supplying regional and state elections as well

as the national campaign. It also tenders contracts abroad. From 25

countries. Some countries draw a line and some put a point. Some

deeply fingers into the bottle. So the quantity required depends upon

the country. At least 50% of the time, we will be busy with

elections. What about the rest of the time? This is a business used to

evolving. Today it has another development keeping things running.

Paint is the heart of the manufacturing process of this

company. One of the important manufacturing is this kind of paint.

Mainly used as an automotive paint. Ink sales will total about $8

million this year. 2014 will not be typical. While it remains the most

high profile product, the business plan is to make a range of things

that are in demand and make sure that the mix is right.

Before we go, here is a look at Asian markets. At this hour they are

all in positive territory. Lifted by another record close in US stocks

and upbeat China factory data. All eyes is on this HSBC final reading.

We have Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea and Australia all in the win

column. Thank you for investing your time with us. Goodbye for now.

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