:00:00. > :00:00.that over 150,000 victims in the UK. Time for the latest business news,
:00:00. > :00:17.live from Singapore. China's president heads for South
:00:18. > :00:24.Korea. Will the two sides finally agree to a trade deal? India is
:00:25. > :00:31.taking steps to combat food waste caused by improper storage and
:00:32. > :00:38.transport. Welcome to Asia Business Report. The economic relationship
:00:39. > :00:43.between South Korea and China is likely to be high on the agenda when
:00:44. > :00:51.the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, touches down in Seoul today. Trade
:00:52. > :00:56.between the two countries tops $270 billion annually. Foreign investment
:00:57. > :00:59.is about a quarter of that, at $57 billion. The two sides have been in
:01:00. > :01:05.talks about a bilateral free trade agreement, so what is the likelihood
:01:06. > :01:11.of that passing through the trip? I posed that question earlier. From
:01:12. > :01:17.South Korea's perspective, getting a free trade agreement done with China
:01:18. > :01:23.is a top priority. The US has been trying to get South Korea to join a
:01:24. > :01:29.multilateral trade agreement with the US and China, but the president
:01:30. > :01:33.he has made it clear that China will happen first. Both sides have had
:01:34. > :01:37.about a dozen meetings and are coming close to a deal. I think that
:01:38. > :01:44.is part of what they are looking forward to pushing towards in this
:01:45. > :01:50.visit. Much has been made of President Xi Jinping visiting the
:01:51. > :01:54.South head of the North, a break with tradition. How much assisted
:01:55. > :01:57.with business links? Business links are getting more and more
:01:58. > :02:01.important, as you mentioned. South Korea is one of the most important
:02:02. > :02:09.trading partners with China, and the reverse is even more true. From
:02:10. > :02:15.China's perspective, South Korea is the destination for many exports.
:02:16. > :02:23.From China's perspective, as you know, North Korea is, it is not what
:02:24. > :02:27.it used to be, and certainly from Beijing's perspective, we see South
:02:28. > :02:31.Korea as being more important. That is something they want to court and
:02:32. > :02:39.encouraged. President will be accompanied by a delegation of some
:02:40. > :02:43.100 Chinese businessmen. What kind of deals are you expecting to come
:02:44. > :02:48.out of this? The President will be spending a lot of his Friday
:02:49. > :02:56.afternoon at and investment forum. We have already seen a battery
:02:57. > :02:59.making company within LG group, they have announced they will be opening
:03:00. > :03:04.another battery factory in China over the next year or so. Those are
:03:05. > :03:06.the sort of agreements that both sides want to see. Samsung
:03:07. > :03:13.electronics, the big smartphone maker, they have the plans as well
:03:14. > :03:18.to make connections in China. A lot of that foreign investment you are
:03:19. > :03:23.going to see, and that is really the sort of Thais they want to
:03:24. > :03:28.strengthen. Rare earth elements played a crucial role in the
:03:29. > :03:31.manufacture of of modern electronics, but getting them out of
:03:32. > :03:33.the ground and processing them can be risky. An Australian company has
:03:34. > :03:39.a rare earth processing facility in Malaysia, but it struggles to
:03:40. > :03:43.contain local protests over potential environmental and health
:03:44. > :03:47.impacts. Despite the controversy, it plans to move its headquarters to
:03:48. > :03:53.Malaysia from Australia. Earlier, I asked Jennifer Pak would lead to
:03:54. > :03:57.that decision? This is part of a bigger plan for them to cut cost per
:03:58. > :04:02.of moving their headquarters to Malaysia. They said they would be
:04:03. > :04:09.cutting some jobs, mainly contract positions. Also, they are looking to
:04:10. > :04:13.renegotiate supply contract as well. They have been facing a very tough
:04:14. > :04:17.two years, because rare earth metals, although very precious,
:04:18. > :04:19.their prices have dropped significantly. More importantly,
:04:20. > :04:25.they haven't been able to boost their output up to capacity here at
:04:26. > :04:29.the Malaysia planned, because of various reasons. One of them being
:04:30. > :04:33.the various protest from environmental activist as well as
:04:34. > :04:37.residents, against the company. Has there been any reaction from those
:04:38. > :04:43.environmental protests as well as the residents, in terms of his big
:04:44. > :04:51.boot they are making? They see the move as probably, there is a mixed
:04:52. > :04:56.sign, that the company are showing sign, that the company are showing
:04:57. > :05:00.they are here to stay. Perhaps to show to invest as they are
:05:01. > :05:03.confident, they will be able to get a licence renewal, which activists
:05:04. > :05:10.say will be coming up shortly. Activists say it might the better
:05:11. > :05:14.that they are here, if their executives here it might be easier
:05:15. > :05:17.to lobby them. We have to remember why people are so against the
:05:18. > :05:21.company being here in setting up the refinery. Rare earth, despite its
:05:22. > :05:27.name, is not very rare to mind. But it is a very dirty and messy process
:05:28. > :05:32.to refine, and much of that has been left up to China up until now. In
:05:33. > :05:39.Malaysia, this has been one of the first companies to try to break
:05:40. > :05:45.China's chokehold. Malaysian airlines may possibly be taking
:05:46. > :05:52.private by its largest investment firm. It owns about 70% of the
:05:53. > :05:56.company and is reportedly looking for different ways to fix its
:05:57. > :06:01.fortunes. It has been losing money for several years, and finances have
:06:02. > :06:06.worsened since the disappearance of flight MH370 in March. French
:06:07. > :06:10.carmaker Peugeot plans to build its fifth factory in China. It has two
:06:11. > :06:18.joint ventures in the country, one with its new shareholder, and one
:06:19. > :06:22.with another Chinese company. The factory will produce an additional
:06:23. > :06:27.300,000 vehicles per year starting from 2016. Facebook is buying a
:06:28. > :06:34.video advertising technology company. The social network did not
:06:35. > :06:37.disclose how much they paid, but the move reflects its desire to attract
:06:38. > :06:42.more advertising money online and away from television. LiveRail
:06:43. > :06:49.creates online video ads for companies like Major league
:06:50. > :06:51.baseball, and ABC. India is the world's second`largest grower of
:06:52. > :06:58.fruit and vegetables after China, but by some estimates they say 14%
:06:59. > :07:03.of all fresh food produced in India is wasted because it rots before it
:07:04. > :07:08.can get to customers. A major cause is the lack of cold storage and
:07:09. > :07:11.investment. As part of our series on global food wastage, we look at what
:07:12. > :07:17.is being done to try to tackle the problem.
:07:18. > :07:24.This is one of Asia's largest wholesale markets. It is in the
:07:25. > :07:28.Indian capital. Truckloads of produce a here every day to be
:07:29. > :07:36.auctioned and sold at the best prices. This man has driven eight
:07:37. > :07:41.hours from a village in a neighbouring state, bringing his
:07:42. > :07:48.harvest of potatoes. It is a long trip that might earn him as much as
:07:49. > :07:53.$3000. But he says he has no other choice. TRANSLATION: Once we harvest
:07:54. > :07:57.our vegetables, we just don't know what to do with them. We need to
:07:58. > :08:02.sell them fast or they are just going to rot. We don't have large
:08:03. > :08:09.markets in the village, so I have to pay for them to be transported all
:08:10. > :08:14.the way to Delhi. More food is brought here than ever before to
:08:15. > :08:16.feed India's hungry cities. But conditions here haven't really
:08:17. > :08:24.changed in the last few decades. This reflects one of the biggest
:08:25. > :08:28.threats to India's food security. Improper storage means that nearly
:08:29. > :08:34.14% of what the country produces perishes before even reaching
:08:35. > :08:37.consumers. Despite being the world's second`largest grower of
:08:38. > :08:46.fruits and vegetables, India throws away fresh produce worth about $7
:08:47. > :08:51.billion every year. This is one solution, India has just over 6000
:08:52. > :08:57.are still it is like this. Only a fraction of what it actually needs.
:08:58. > :09:02.Providing technology for climate controlled warehouses is proving to
:09:03. > :09:07.be a good business for companies. The price of milk per litre
:09:08. > :09:12.potentially could go down by 20 to 40% if wastage was reduced. For
:09:13. > :09:17.fruit and vegetables, prices could be halved potentially, so for a
:09:18. > :09:21.country, as I said earlier, of 1.2 billion people, if you can bring
:09:22. > :09:27.down pricing it is good for everyone. India's inability to keep
:09:28. > :09:33.much of what it produces edible means many are left hungry. Unless
:09:34. > :09:41.India invests in modern warehouses and cool trucks, or perhaps tempting
:09:42. > :09:46.foreign retail giants to make the investment for them, the problems of
:09:47. > :09:52.hunger and high food prices will only get worse.
:09:53. > :09:58.Little change with Asian shares, that a flat at the open. Some are
:09:59. > :10:08.gaining, the ASX mainly taking its cues from the record close on Wall
:10:09. > :10:13.Street. All eyes to date on the crucial decision, and the June
:10:14. > :10:23.payrolls report keeping investors fairly cautious in Asia. A record
:10:24. > :10:26.close, but a short week for Wall Street, which will be closed for the
:10:27. > :10:36.Independence Day celebrations on Friday. Thank you for watching.
:10:37. > :10:43.Our top stories: There have been violent clashes in East Jerusalem
:10:44. > :10:47.over the killing of a Palestinian teenager. Many fear it was a revenge
:10:48. > :10:48.attack for the killing of three young