19/06/2014 Asia Business Report

financial year, according to the government regulator. The government

says it is confident it will find the necessary savings. Time for Asia

Business Report. Amazon jumps into the growing smartphone market, but

can they compete against the likes of Apple and Samsung? Taste of Asia.

We look at why Korean food is enjoying a revival in the West.

Thank you for joining us. Amazon is taking on smartphone giants Apple

and Samsung Electronics is right on their own turf. The online retailer

has unveiled a new handset which will give users direct access to its

web store, services and other devices. Jeff Bezos had promised us

something different ahead of this event and here it is, the new Amazon

Fire Phone. It looks like a standard smartphone. It has a camera. But

what is interesting about it are these four front cameras that

operate in infrared, meaning it can track my facial movements and my

eyes will stop that means it can give dynamic perspective to the

screen. For example, if I try to unlock the phone, you will see my

lock screen looks like it's moving, like I can see through the image,

much more than is possible on an iPhone, that tries to achieve a

similar effect. The other unique feature on the handset is a

dedicated button that means when you point the camera at any one of 100

million different objects in the database, it will recognise those

objects. For Amazon, it is a seamless way for users to be able to

order some and they want from the Amazon retail store. This is a very

crowded smartphone space but Amazon seem to have brought a very unique

perspective to it. Success is by no means guaranteed but given Jeff

Bezos's past record for destruction, you would not bet against him. ``

disruption. What will be other industry giants make of this move?

It is certainly significant. They are looking to extend their brand,

from what I can see. Amazon as an online retailer going into the

smartphone. It looks like a natural extension. Will Asian consumers take

up this new smartphone brand? There are many different brand names in

the market today. Apple and Samsung and now Amazon. It looks like a very

interesting handset and it also depends with whom they tie up with

in Asia to be their service provider. The real thing is going to

be how the 12 `year`olds and 15 `year`olds like this device. They

are the big users of the smartphones and the apps. The US Central Bank

has got another $10 billion of its monthly bond purchases after its

policy meeting. The Federal Reserve has been gradually reducing the size

of its stimulus programme and is on track to end it by late this year.

It also committed to keeping interest rates at record low levels

until the economy recovers further. I asked how Asian central bankers

will react. The next step is, Wendell interest rates go up? And

how is the Federal Reserve, which has been buying much of these bonds,

going to shrink its balance sheet? That is around $4 trillion, a huge

amount of money that the Federal Reserve has on its balance sheet. We

have high interest rates and high inflation in Indonesia and India.

Are some of these emerging Asian economies exporting inflation to the

US economy? Janet Yellen has said we are seeing creeping inflation. As a

result of the money that is being created, people do expect inflation

to the rampant across the globe, but we have seen very low inflation in

Europe, in America. We are seeing high inflation in terms of

properties. We are seeing property bubbles all over the place. House

price inflation is a big problem. New Zealand's economy grew at its

fastest annual pace in 6.5 years due to the construction boom. GDP

expanded by 3.8% from levels one year ago in the first quarter, which

was higher than estimates. Hong Kong jeweller, Chow Tai Fook, is buying

an American jewellery manufacturer. The company targets mostly Chinese

consumers and is looking to expand its high`end jewellery offerings

into North America. Plans for a new international shipping lines to cut

costs have been rejected both China. Already approved by the EU

and US, the alliance was meant to operate in a similar way to coach

sharing deals between airlines. It would have allowed shipping

operators to share vessels and port facilities, with plans for 250 ships

to participate. One of the shipping companies behind the plan is Maersk

from Denmark. What happened? The Chinese authorities have told us

that they thought the concentration of 47% of the Asia`Europe market

among the three carriers was a concern for them in terms of

restricting petition. Our view was that this was a collaboration of

cooperation and there was no competition between us. With this

alliance falling through, what does this setback mean for Maersk?

because not only does this... Can you quantify the savings of this

alliance? We would be talking about hundreds of millions of dollars. Is

it possible this could be revisited or reviewed by Chinese authorities?

This is the final decision. There has been no appeal. We respect the

decision that was taken and we will go back to business and focus on

what we need to do to make profit. Is there a way around not having

this alliance? There was no second plan for this. What we will do is

continue what we are doing today. We don't co`operate with other shipping

lines in other areas and we will continue to do that in the future.

`` we do co`operate. Korean cuisine has been somewhat left behind when

it comes to competition from its Chinese and Japanese neighbours. But

of late, there has been renewed interest in Korean delicacies. We

went to a farm that produces fermented bean paste. If it is fast

food you are after, this is not its. Career's traditional fermented

sources on the original slow food. `` South Korea's traditional

fermented sauces. This humble paste is what gives South Korean food its

unique flavour. South Korean food is about tradition, not fashion. The

restaurants are simple, or service brusque, and its flavour is not for

the fainthearted. This one is a paste made from fermented beans and

some soup to match. There is some raw garlic and some whole pickled

chillies here. It is what one Korean friend has described as the culinary

equivalent of tough love. But tough love, it seems, is exactly what

people in New York want these days as well as those in London and

Tokyo. South Korean coveted Michelin stars, including

this one in New York. Its owner says Korean food used to be seen as cheap

and cheerful, but the attitudes of chefs abroad are changing. We don't

have famous chefs in South Korea. We have mothers, who for generations

and generations, have cooked for their family and only their family.

And these people are the best chefs in this country. The rise of Korean

food has not come as a complete surprise here. The South Korean

government has been trying to raise the profile and the image of the

nation's cooking for years, inviting top international chefs to Seoul for

inspiration. The distinctiveness of South Korean food comes from

locality and locality can be developed into sophisticated cuisine

and refined manners. And we can compete in the world market with

this. South Korean farmers are exporting twice as much produce

upscale Korean restaurants starting to appear

entry into the gastronomic world has left some South Koreans wondering

how can something their grandmother makes suddenly be so fashionable?

Sport is coming up next with the latest World Cup news and results.

Goodbye for now. This is BBC News. Iraq has formally asked the US to

launch airstrikes to halt the advance by extremists who have

seized major towns and cities. The defending World Cup champions Spain

have been eliminated from the competition after losing two