:00:00. > :00:00.in the UK. Now on BBC News, all the latest business news live from
:00:00. > :00:19.Singapore. China's president heads for South
:00:20. > :00:24.Korea. Will they finally agreed to a trade deal? And India is taking
:00:25. > :00:30.steps to combat food wastage caused by improper storage and transport.
:00:31. > :00:39.Welcome to Asia Business Report. The economic relationship between South
:00:40. > :00:42.Korea and China is likely to be high on the agenda when the Chinese
:00:43. > :00:50.president touches down in Seoul today. Trade between the countries
:00:51. > :00:56.tops or than $270 `` 200 $70 billion US. Foreign investment is around a
:00:57. > :01:01.quarter of that. The two sides have been in talks about a bilateral
:01:02. > :01:07.trade agreement. Will is there a likelihood of this passing during
:01:08. > :01:11.this trip? `` was there. From South Korea's perspective,
:01:12. > :01:18.getting a free trade agreement done is a top priority. South Korea has
:01:19. > :01:22.been urged to join a multilateral trade agreement with the US and Asia
:01:23. > :01:28.but the President Kiir has made it clear that China is going to happen
:01:29. > :01:32.first. `` the president has made it clear. They have had about 12
:01:33. > :01:37.meetings and upcoming close to a deal. That's part of what they are
:01:38. > :01:43.looking forward to pushing forward with this visit. Again, the Chinese
:01:44. > :01:47.president will be accompanied by a delegation of about 100 Chinese
:01:48. > :01:53.businesses. What kind of deals are you expecting to come out of this
:01:54. > :01:59.visit? He will spend much of Friday afternoon at an investment forum.
:02:00. > :02:05.But we have already seen a battery making company, within LG group,
:02:06. > :02:10.announcing that they will be opening a new factory in China over the next
:02:11. > :02:14.year or so. Those are the sorts of agreements that both sides want to
:02:15. > :02:20.see. Samsung Electronics of course is the big smartphone maker and they
:02:21. > :02:26.have big plans. A lot of that foreign investment you will see.
:02:27. > :02:33.That's the kind of thing they want to strengthen. In other business
:02:34. > :02:46.news, Peugeot plans to build its fifth factory in China. Its to ``
:02:47. > :02:51.two ventures in China will produce an additional 300,000 vehicles a
:02:52. > :02:56.year starting from 2016. Malaysian Airlines may be taken private by its
:02:57. > :02:59.largest shareholder. The state investment fund owns about 70% of
:03:00. > :03:04.the company and is reportedly examining different ways to fix its
:03:05. > :03:08.fortunes. Malaysia Airlines has been losing money for several years and
:03:09. > :03:18.its finances have worsened, following the disappearance of
:03:19. > :03:24.flight MH 370. Rare earth elements are difficult to get out of the
:03:25. > :03:27.ground and process. An Australian company has a rare earth processing
:03:28. > :03:31.facility in Malaysia but it struggles to contain local protest
:03:32. > :03:36.over potential environmental and health impacts. Despite the
:03:37. > :03:41.controversy, it plans to move headquarters to Malaysia from
:03:42. > :03:45.Australia. Earlier, I asked our correspondent what they to that
:03:46. > :03:47.decision. This is part of a bigger plan for them to cut costs. In
:03:48. > :03:52.addition to moving their head waters, it also says that they will
:03:53. > :03:58.be cutting some jobs, mainly contract positions. Also they are
:03:59. > :04:04.looking to renegotiate supply contracts as well. They have been
:04:05. > :04:07.facing a very tough two years because Brett the metals, although
:04:08. > :04:12.very precious, the prices have dropped significantly. `` rare earth
:04:13. > :04:18.metals. And they haven't been able to boost their out with a Malaysian
:04:19. > :04:21.plant. That's because of various reasons but one of them of course
:04:22. > :04:26.being the various protests from environmental activists and
:04:27. > :04:30.residents. Has there been any reaction from the
:04:31. > :04:33.environmental protesters, as well as the residence, in terms of this big
:04:34. > :04:39.move? They see the move as probably...
:04:40. > :04:45.They have mixed reactions. `` residents. Some believe it's a bad
:04:46. > :04:51.sign, that the company is here to say. Perhaps a show to investors
:04:52. > :04:54.that they are considered and will be able to get licence renewal, which
:04:55. > :04:59.activists say will be coming up shortly. Others say it could be
:05:00. > :05:07.better for them, the fact that the company is here, and that might make
:05:08. > :05:15.it easier for them to lobby. Despite its name, rare earths are not very
:05:16. > :05:27.rare to mind. But it's a very messy process to refine. `` to mine.
:05:28. > :05:34.Malaysia has been one of the first places to face this Chinese company.
:05:35. > :05:40.Before Indonesia's election, the race is getting very intense as the
:05:41. > :05:46.two candidates are now almost neck to neck in the polls. While the
:05:47. > :05:51.candidates are battling it out, some small businesses are cashing in on
:05:52. > :05:56.the spirit of the elections. We report from Jakarta. I'm in a
:05:57. > :06:00.traditional market in central Jakarta and all around me there is
:06:01. > :06:04.merchandise display interfaces and logos of the two Indonesian
:06:05. > :06:09.presidential candidates, Joko Widodo and Prabowo Subianto.
:06:10. > :06:15.They are everywhere. On T`shirts, cups and even on things like these.
:06:16. > :06:23.This man has been selling goods here for 25 years and it's never been so
:06:24. > :06:29.busy. TRANSLATION: I've been selling Acra one merchandise since 2012 when
:06:30. > :06:35.he ran for governor. `` Joko Widodo merchandise. His products have
:06:36. > :06:40.picked up. I also sell products from Prabowo Subianto boat I only started
:06:41. > :06:47.selling them recently. These bags are in high demand. The buyers are
:06:48. > :06:51.from all over the country. In fact, somebody even bought these bags to
:06:52. > :06:55.take them to Hong Kong and give them to the Indonesian migrant workers
:06:56. > :07:01.there. Shopkeepers here say that although sales are good it is still
:07:02. > :07:04.difficult to attract customers. They are all in fierce competition, just
:07:05. > :07:10.like the candidates, to reach out to the most people.
:07:11. > :07:17.India is the world's second`largest grower of fruit and vegetables,
:07:18. > :07:22.after China. But some estimates say 40% of all fresh food produced in
:07:23. > :07:26.India is wasted because it rots before it can get to customers. A
:07:27. > :07:31.major cause is the lack of cold store facilities. As part of our
:07:32. > :07:33.series on global food wastage, we look at what's being done to try to
:07:34. > :07:45.tackle the problem. This is one of Asia's largest
:07:46. > :07:50.wholesale markets. It in their Indian capital. `` in the.
:07:51. > :07:57.Truckloads of produce arrives every day to be auctioned and sold at the
:07:58. > :08:00.best prices. This farmer has driven eight hours from a village in a
:08:01. > :08:05.neighbouring state, bringing his harvest of potatoes. It's a long
:08:06. > :08:14.trip that might only as much as $3000. `` earn him. He says he has
:08:15. > :08:19.no other choice. TRANSLATION: Once we harvest our vegetables, we just
:08:20. > :08:23.don't know what to do with them. We need to sell them past or they are
:08:24. > :08:26.just going to rot. We don't have large markets in the village, so I
:08:27. > :08:33.have to pay for them to be transported all the way to Delhi.
:08:34. > :08:37.More food is brought here than ever before to
:08:38. > :08:41.cities. The conditions haven't really changed in the last few
:08:42. > :08:47.decades. This reflects one of the biggest threat to India's food
:08:48. > :08:51.security. In proper storage means nearly 40% of what the country's
:08:52. > :08:58.produces perishes, even before reaching consumers. Despite being
:08:59. > :09:02.the world's second biggest grower of fruit and vegetables, India throws
:09:03. > :09:10.away fresh produce worth about $7 billion every year. This is one
:09:11. > :09:17.solution. India has just over 6000 facilities like this. Only a
:09:18. > :09:20.fraction of what it actually needs. So, providing technology for climate
:09:21. > :09:28.controlled warehouses is proving to be a good business for companies
:09:29. > :09:33.like this. The price of milk per litre potentially could go down by
:09:34. > :09:38.up to 40% if wasting was reduced. For fruit and vegetables, prices
:09:39. > :09:43.could be potentially halved. For a country of 1.2 billion people. `` if
:09:44. > :09:50.you can bring down pricing, it's good for everyone. India's inability
:09:51. > :09:55.to keep much of what it produces edible means many are left hungry.
:09:56. > :10:02.Unless it invests in modern warehouses and cooled trucks, or
:10:03. > :10:06.perhaps tempt foreign giants to make investments for them, the problems
:10:07. > :10:12.of hunger and food prices are only going to get worse.
:10:13. > :10:25.A quick look at Asian shares because they are mostly flat. The Nikkei and
:10:26. > :10:31.cost be mostly flat. `` Kospi. Caution ahead of the crucial jobs
:10:32. > :10:37.data out of the US. Thanks for watching.
:10:38. > :10:41.The top stories this hour: There have been violent clashes in east
:10:42. > :10:44.Jerusalem following the killing of a Palestinian teenager. Many fear it
:10:45. > :10:48.was a revenge attack for the killing of three Israelis. The US demands
:10:49. > :10:51.tougher security at foreign airports. There's alarm over a
:10:52. > :10:57.possible, new, undetectable Al Qaeda bomb.