:00:00. > :00:19.as extraordinary people. Time for the latest business news.
:00:20. > :00:23.Japanese prime ministers Shinzo Abe sets out to hundred new measures
:00:24. > :00:27.aimed at boosting growth. Shows of Japan's the best car makers are
:00:28. > :00:35.slumping after a potentially explosive air bags sparked a major
:00:36. > :00:40.recall. Welcome to Asia Business Report. How
:00:41. > :00:48.do you beat decades of deflation and a stagnant growth? Shinzo Abe has
:00:49. > :00:50.been trying to do just that through a strategy of fiscal stimulus,
:00:51. > :00:58.monetary easing and structural reforms. He is going to unveil
:00:59. > :01:02.several new measures later today including cutting the corporate tax
:01:03. > :01:08.rate and promoting the legalisation of the casino industry. To find out
:01:09. > :01:14.if it will hit its target, we are joined now by a Japanese economist.
:01:15. > :01:21.What are you expecting exactly from the Prime Minister? We already had
:01:22. > :01:32.to be announced. `` of the announcement. We have seen a draft
:01:33. > :01:40.of the measures in agriculture, encouraging women to walk. `` work.
:01:41. > :01:46.You say they are important measures, but there are over 200 measures. The
:01:47. > :01:59.include proposed bans hold of regulations. Will it work? It
:02:00. > :02:03.depends on the details. We have not seen the final draft yet. What we
:02:04. > :02:13.have seen so far, it seems rather piecemeal. We still need to see the
:02:14. > :02:18.final draft. I expect it will be similar to what we saw last year.
:02:19. > :02:24.Last year was 110 page document with thousands of measures. But nothing
:02:25. > :02:28.much concrete came out of it. If you take a look at the reforms that the
:02:29. > :02:35.Prime Minister has put in place so far, you have a huge fiscal
:02:36. > :02:45.stimulus. Have his previous measures had some impact? We have seen some
:02:46. > :02:52.impact. The number of women has increased in the workforce. The
:02:53. > :03:01.Japanese economy has grown over the past year. There was a hint of a
:03:02. > :03:06.consumption tax hike. The reforms have not fulfilled their potential,
:03:07. > :03:13.but it takes time. Electricity reform will take several years to
:03:14. > :03:21.legislate. Even longer to fulfil its effects. It will take time before we
:03:22. > :03:29.see the results. We will wait and see if Japan manages to lick its
:03:30. > :03:37.self out of these decades of poor growth. `` lift. Continuing with
:03:38. > :03:41.Japan, sherries of the three biggest car makers are falling after they
:03:42. > :03:48.announced a major recall over faulty airbags.
:03:49. > :03:53.Japanese companies are not the only ones affected.
:03:54. > :03:58.Honda has been hardest hit by the problem and has been forced to
:03:59. > :04:02.recall an additional 2 million vehicles. This and has recalled an
:04:03. > :04:10.additional 750,000 while Master has recalled 150,000. The fault is with
:04:11. > :04:17.the aerobatics. The park was supplied by another Japanese firm.
:04:18. > :04:24.Other carmakers have also issued recall is over the same part.
:04:25. > :04:28.Globally, Japan's leading manufacturers have recalled 7
:04:29. > :04:34.million cars. There have not been any reports of accidents or injuries
:04:35. > :04:41.due to the issue. But apparently there has been one report of a seat
:04:42. > :04:44.cover burn. Japan's companies are not the only wants grappling with
:04:45. > :04:53.recalls. General Motors has recalled several million cars this year, more
:04:54. > :04:59.than it has sold. It is due to faulty ignition switches. They have
:05:00. > :05:04.also issued recall is over seatbelts, transmissions and air
:05:05. > :05:08.bags. Hardly a I spoke to a Tokyo `based
:05:09. > :05:21.automated journalist. I asked if the recall would wrote applications for
:05:22. > :05:25.quality. These are problems that are encouraged that are no longer being
:05:26. > :05:30.made. The manufacturers are confident these problems will not be
:05:31. > :05:36.lingering. The impact on sales might be limited. The impact on earnings
:05:37. > :05:41.is still to be determined. The biggest one hit will be the
:05:42. > :05:47.supplier. In the recall last year they took a $300 million charge for
:05:48. > :05:55.this. You can expect similar charges this time around. We know these
:05:56. > :06:03.vehicles takes the total number of car is recalled to nearly 7 million
:06:04. > :06:07.globally. That is a lot of cars. Is this a sign of manufacturing
:06:08. > :06:14.standards going down, or is there a tougher scrutiny? The numbers are
:06:15. > :06:22.eye`popping. Especially when you look at General Motors. It might be
:06:23. > :06:28.alarming to consumers. But the quality of cars being produced today
:06:29. > :06:33.has never been better. It has to do with the sophistication of some of
:06:34. > :06:36.the small parts in the cars. There is a higher level of scrutiny that
:06:37. > :06:41.goes into that. People are not willing to tolerate even small
:06:42. > :06:47.glitches that might have been locked over decades ago.
:06:48. > :06:51.In other business news, the South Korean government is looking to sell
:06:52. > :06:58.its stake in one of the country's biggest financial firms for a fourth
:06:59. > :07:05.time. It has a stake of $4.5 billion. But they have had trouble
:07:06. > :07:08.privatising the lender. South Africa's longest ever work stoppage
:07:09. > :07:18.has officially ended after unions reached a deal with platinum mining
:07:19. > :07:21.companies. They have been on strike for the past five months. Severely
:07:22. > :07:28.impacting South Africa's economy and mining companies. Over in the art
:07:29. > :07:40.world, a famous painting by Monet has sold for $450 million.
:07:41. > :07:44.The painting was sold to an anonymous bidder at an auction in
:07:45. > :07:48.London. Since the end of the civil war, the physical face of Sri
:07:49. > :07:55.Lanka's commercial capital Colombo has been radically changed.
:07:56. > :08:02.Long`standing lower`income areas are being demolished to make way for
:08:03. > :08:07.postage developments. One area in the middle of the city is known as
:08:08. > :08:12.slave island. It is like a small Sri Lanka in the
:08:13. > :08:17.beating heart of the city. Was the and Buddhist, Christian and Hindu
:08:18. > :08:21.jostle side by side. Life is lived on the streets or in the alleyways.
:08:22. > :08:31.Most people here do not have much money. But they value their way of
:08:32. > :08:34.life. This will `` woman watches the world go by. She was born in the
:08:35. > :08:42.same house which deal shelters her family. She is unhappy as it has
:08:43. > :08:48.been earmarked for demolition. I do not want to go, I want to stay, she
:08:49. > :08:51.says. Many nearby houses have already been demolished. After
:08:52. > :08:56.decades of war, the government says it wants a Colombo that can rival
:08:57. > :09:03.Singapore and wants to liberate these lands for commercial purposes.
:09:04. > :09:08.As a result, entire streets of traditional houses are being
:09:09. > :09:16.flattened. Resulting in this. Luxury flats and hotels are to come up. In
:09:17. > :09:29.slave island, the developers include Indian ones. Here, were modest
:09:30. > :09:35.flats. He says it is nice to all the neighbours have moved here, but they
:09:36. > :09:38.got no payment for their old house. Some human rights campaigners say
:09:39. > :09:48.the people of slave island are unwillingly big. At `` being forced
:09:49. > :09:54.out. People seem to fit protesting. The authorities say the move from
:09:55. > :09:59.houses to flats is a natural one. People will get used to that. It
:10:00. > :10:07.happened in Vietnam and Singapore. Many other countries. It is a normal
:10:08. > :10:12.sort of behaviour. The developer has promised to build the flats for the
:10:13. > :10:21.locals where the old houses were, next to the new luxury blocks. Its
:10:22. > :10:28.architectural heritage and unique atmosphere are passing into history.
:10:29. > :10:30.That is it for this edition of Asia Business Report. You can follow us
:10:31. > :10:42.on Twitter. Here are the headlines: An Egyptian
:10:43. > :10:47.court has sentenced three Al Jazeera journalists to seven years in jail
:10:48. > :10:49.sparking international outrage. As Michael Schumacher continues his
:10:50. > :10:55.recovery there are concerns his medical records may have been stolen
:10:56. > :10:58.and offered for sale. There's about to be a shake`up at
:10:59. > :10:59.the top of the