19/06/2014 Asia Business Report

Health says it's confident it will find the necessary savings. Now on

BBC News, all the latest business news live from Singapore.

Asian stocks are rising after the Federal Reserve announced record low

interest rates. And we take a look at why Korean

food is enjoying a revival in the West.

Thanks for joining us. I'm Rico Hizon. The US central bank has cut

another $10 billion from its monthly bond purchases after its meeting.

The Fed 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 keep

interest rates at a record low until the economy right `` recovers

further. Asian markets are sharing that position, with Japan, Australia

and Hong Kong in positive territory. This follows a rally in Wall Street

overnight that saw the S 500 finish at a wreck at high. Earlier I

asked how Asia's central tankers are likely to react. `` bankers. The

next step is, how will the Federal Reserve going to shrink its balance

sheet? It about $4 trillion, US, at the moment. The huge amount of

money. Looking at inflation, we have high interest rates, high inflation

in Indonesia and India. Are some of these Asian emerging economies

exporting inflation to the US economy? Janet Yellen says we are

seeing creeping inflation. As a result of the amount of money

created, people expect inflation to be pretty rampant across the globe.

But we are seeing low inflation in Europe. Very low inflation in

America. But we see high inflation, in terms of say property. Top of the

bubbles are all over the place. House price inflation is a big

rubble. Amazon Instant is going to take on `` is going to take on

smartphone giants Apple and Samsung Electronics, 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.

Alcoa is one and was at the launch event. `` our correspondent. 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 decent camera. But what's interesting about it are

these four front cameras that operate in infrared, meaning it can

track my facial movements and my eyes. 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's a seamless way for users to be

able to order some and they want from the Amazon retail store. ``

something they need from. 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

disruption, you would not bet against him. What to industry

players think of this move? `` what do. It's certainly significant. They

are looking to extend their brand, from what I can see. Amazon as an

online retailer, with their Fire reader, now 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 phone and it also depends on whom they tie up with in

the 12`year`olds and 15`year`olds like this device. They are the big

users of the smartphones and the apps. Plans for a new shipping line

has been rejected by China, already approved by the US and European

Union. The alliance was meant to operate in a similar way to co`

sharing deals between airlines and would have allowed the world's top

three container shipping operators to shared vessels and port

facilities, with plans for about 250 ships to participate. One of the

companies behind the plan is from Denmark. Earlier I asked its

Asia`Pacific CEO for details. The Chinese authorities told us they

felt the concentration of 47% of the Asia Europe market amongst three

carriers was a concern for them in terms of restricting competition.

Our view was that this was purely an operational collaboration and there

was no commercial engagement. But obviously the ministry of commerce

didn't agree. With this alliance falling through, what does this

setback mean for the company? Short term for this year it doesn't impact

us. In the long`term, there will be `` there would have been cost

savings for us and we are disappointed because it not only

addresses some of the problems we have an industry in terms of cost

but it also gives our better products. You quantified the savings

of this? We are talking about hundreds of millions of dollars for

the alliances. Is it possible that this could be revisited? Reviewed?

No. This was the final decision. There is no appeal and we aren't

planning to argue this. We respect the decision that was taken and what

we will do now is we will go back to focusing on doing what we need to do

to make profit. Is there a way around not having this alliance? We

didn't have a plan B. There was no plan B for this. What we will do is

by taking up costs. We do co`operate by taking up costs. We do co`operate

with other shipping lines in specific areas and we will continue

to do that in the future. 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. In terms of popularity, Korean

cuisine has been somewhat left behind when it comes to competition

from its Chinese and Japanese make `` Japanese neighbours. But of late,

there has been renewed interest in Korean delicacies. Lucy Williamson

went to a farm that produces fermented bean paste.

If it is fast food you are after, this is not it. South Korea's

traditional fermented sauces are the original slow food. They are left to

ferment, sometimes for decades. OK, it won't win beauty awards. But this

humble paste is what gives South Korean food its unique flavour.

South Korean food is about tradition, not fashion. The

restaurants are simple, 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's what one Korean friend has described as the culinary

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

Yorkers want these days, as well as those in London and Tokyo. South

Korean restaurants overseas are beginning to collect 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

and generations have cooked for 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 recipes and manners.

Combined with that, we can compete in the world market. South Korean

farmers are exporting twice as much produce as they wear a few years ago

and the trend has returned back home, with upscale Korean

restaurants starting to appear in the capital. This late entry into

the gastronomic world has left some Koreans wondering ` how can

something their grandmother makes suddenly be so cool?

For more news and analysis, log onto the website. For the latest World

Cup news, the sport is up next. Bye for now.

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