:00:00. > :00:00.financial year, according to the government regulator. The government
:00:00. > :00:15.says it is confident it will find the necessary savings. Time for Asia
:00:16. > :00:19.Business Report. Amazon jumps into the growing smartphone market, but
:00:20. > :00:25.can they compete against the likes of Apple and Samsung? Taste of Asia.
:00:26. > :00:37.We look at why Korean food is enjoying a revival in the West.
:00:38. > :00:41.Thank you for joining us. Amazon is taking on smartphone giants Apple
:00:42. > :00:47.and Samsung Electronics is right on their own turf. The online retailer
:00:48. > :00:50.has unveiled a new handset which will give users direct access to its
:00:51. > :01:02.web store, services and other devices. Jeff Bezos had promised us
:01:03. > :01:06.something different ahead of this event and here it is, the new Amazon
:01:07. > :01:12.Fire Phone. It looks like a standard smartphone. It has a camera. But
:01:13. > :01:18.what is interesting about it are these four front cameras that
:01:19. > :01:22.operate in infrared, meaning it can track my facial movements and my
:01:23. > :01:26.eyes will stop that means it can give dynamic perspective to the
:01:27. > :01:30.screen. For example, if I try to unlock the phone, you will see my
:01:31. > :01:34.lock screen looks like it's moving, like I can see through the image,
:01:35. > :01:41.much more than is possible on an iPhone, that tries to achieve a
:01:42. > :01:44.similar effect. The other unique feature on the handset is a
:01:45. > :01:48.dedicated button that means when you point the camera at any one of 100
:01:49. > :01:54.million different objects in the database, it will recognise those
:01:55. > :01:57.objects. For Amazon, it is a seamless way for users to be able to
:01:58. > :02:03.order some and they want from the Amazon retail store. This is a very
:02:04. > :02:09.crowded smartphone space but Amazon seem to have brought a very unique
:02:10. > :02:13.perspective to it. Success is by no means guaranteed but given Jeff
:02:14. > :02:22.Bezos's past record for destruction, you would not bet against him. ``
:02:23. > :02:28.disruption. What will be other industry giants make of this move?
:02:29. > :02:33.It is certainly significant. They are looking to extend their brand,
:02:34. > :02:39.from what I can see. Amazon as an online retailer going into the
:02:40. > :02:46.smartphone. It looks like a natural extension. Will Asian consumers take
:02:47. > :02:50.up this new smartphone brand? There are many different brand names in
:02:51. > :02:55.the market today. Apple and Samsung and now Amazon. It looks like a very
:02:56. > :02:58.interesting handset and it also depends with whom they tie up with
:02:59. > :03:03.in Asia to be their service provider. The real thing is going to
:03:04. > :03:08.be how the 12 `year`olds and 15 `year`olds like this device. They
:03:09. > :03:15.are the big users of the smartphones and the apps. The US Central Bank
:03:16. > :03:20.has got another $10 billion of its monthly bond purchases after its
:03:21. > :03:24.policy meeting. The Federal Reserve has been gradually reducing the size
:03:25. > :03:28.of its stimulus programme and is on track to end it by late this year.
:03:29. > :03:34.It also committed to keeping interest rates at record low levels
:03:35. > :03:41.until the economy recovers further. I asked how Asian central bankers
:03:42. > :03:46.will react. The next step is, Wendell interest rates go up? And
:03:47. > :03:52.how is the Federal Reserve, which has been buying much of these bonds,
:03:53. > :03:57.going to shrink its balance sheet? That is around $4 trillion, a huge
:03:58. > :04:02.amount of money that the Federal Reserve has on its balance sheet. We
:04:03. > :04:10.have high interest rates and high inflation in Indonesia and India.
:04:11. > :04:15.Are some of these emerging Asian economies exporting inflation to the
:04:16. > :04:20.US economy? Janet Yellen has said we are seeing creeping inflation. As a
:04:21. > :04:24.result of the money that is being created, people do expect inflation
:04:25. > :04:32.to the rampant across the globe, but we have seen very low inflation in
:04:33. > :04:36.Europe, in America. We are seeing high inflation in terms of
:04:37. > :04:43.properties. We are seeing property bubbles all over the place. House
:04:44. > :04:48.price inflation is a big problem. New Zealand's economy grew at its
:04:49. > :04:53.fastest annual pace in 6.5 years due to the construction boom. GDP
:04:54. > :05:08.expanded by 3.8% from levels one year ago in the first quarter, which
:05:09. > :05:12.was higher than estimates. Hong Kong jeweller, Chow Tai Fook, is buying
:05:13. > :05:15.an American jewellery manufacturer. The company targets mostly Chinese
:05:16. > :05:20.consumers and is looking to expand its high`end jewellery offerings
:05:21. > :05:24.into North America. Plans for a new international shipping lines to cut
:05:25. > :05:28.costs have been rejected both China. Already approved by the EU
:05:29. > :05:37.and US, the alliance was meant to operate in a similar way to coach
:05:38. > :05:39.sharing deals between airlines. It would have allowed shipping
:05:40. > :05:44.operators to share vessels and port facilities, with plans for 250 ships
:05:45. > :05:56.to participate. One of the shipping companies behind the plan is Maersk
:05:57. > :05:59.from Denmark. What happened? The Chinese authorities have told us
:06:00. > :06:21.that they thought the concentration of 47% of the Asia`Europe market
:06:22. > :06:25.among the three carriers was a concern for them in terms of
:06:26. > :06:27.restricting petition. Our view was that this was a collaboration of
:06:28. > :06:29.cooperation and there was no competition between us. With this
:06:30. > :06:50.alliance falling through, what does this setback mean for Maersk?
:06:51. > :06:53.because not only does this... Can you quantify the savings of this
:06:54. > :06:56.alliance? We would be talking about hundreds of millions of dollars. Is
:06:57. > :07:00.it possible this could be revisited or reviewed by Chinese authorities?
:07:01. > :07:06.This is the final decision. There has been no appeal. We respect the
:07:07. > :07:12.decision that was taken and we will go back to business and focus on
:07:13. > :07:17.what we need to do to make profit. Is there a way around not having
:07:18. > :07:24.this alliance? There was no second plan for this. What we will do is
:07:25. > :07:27.continue what we are doing today. We don't co`operate with other shipping
:07:28. > :07:36.lines in other areas and we will continue to do that in the future.
:07:37. > :07:40.`` we do co`operate. Korean cuisine has been somewhat left behind when
:07:41. > :07:44.it comes to competition from its Chinese and Japanese neighbours. But
:07:45. > :07:49.of late, there has been renewed interest in Korean delicacies. We
:07:50. > :07:55.went to a farm that produces fermented bean paste. If it is fast
:07:56. > :08:01.food you are after, this is not its. Career's traditional fermented
:08:02. > :08:13.sources on the original slow food. `` South Korea's traditional
:08:14. > :08:18.fermented sauces. This humble paste is what gives South Korean food its
:08:19. > :08:23.unique flavour. South Korean food is about tradition, not fashion. The
:08:24. > :08:29.restaurants are simple, or service brusque, and its flavour is not for
:08:30. > :08:33.the fainthearted. This one is a paste made from fermented beans and
:08:34. > :08:38.some soup to match. There is some raw garlic and some whole pickled
:08:39. > :08:43.chillies here. It is what one Korean friend has described as the culinary
:08:44. > :08:48.equivalent of tough love. But tough love, it seems, is exactly what
:08:49. > :08:49.people in New York want these days as well as those in London and
:08:50. > :09:02.Tokyo. South Korean coveted Michelin stars, including
:09:03. > :09:04.this one in New York. Its owner says Korean food used to be seen as cheap
:09:05. > :09:13.and cheerful, but the attitudes of chefs abroad are changing. We don't
:09:14. > :09:17.have famous chefs in South Korea. We have mothers, who for generations
:09:18. > :09:23.and generations, have cooked for their family and only their family.
:09:24. > :09:29.And these people are the best chefs in this country. The rise of Korean
:09:30. > :09:32.food has not come as a complete surprise here. The South Korean
:09:33. > :09:36.government has been trying to raise the profile and the image of the
:09:37. > :09:42.nation's cooking for years, inviting top international chefs to Seoul for
:09:43. > :09:46.inspiration. The distinctiveness of South Korean food comes from
:09:47. > :09:59.locality and locality can be developed into sophisticated cuisine
:10:00. > :10:04.and refined manners. And we can compete in the world market with
:10:05. > :10:10.this. South Korean farmers are exporting twice as much produce
:10:11. > :10:19.upscale Korean restaurants starting to appear
:10:20. > :10:20.entry into the gastronomic world has left some South Koreans wondering
:10:21. > :10:28.how can something their grandmother makes suddenly be so fashionable?
:10:29. > :10:41.Sport is coming up next with the latest World Cup news and results.
:10:42. > :10:45.Goodbye for now. This is BBC News. Iraq has formally asked the US to
:10:46. > :10:53.launch airstrikes to halt the advance by extremists who have
:10:54. > :10:55.seized major towns and cities. The defending World Cup champions Spain
:10:56. > :10:56.have been eliminated from the competition after losing two