:00:00. > :00:12.return to Britain. Now it is time for all the latest
:00:13. > :00:18.business news, live from Singapore. ?1 billion, Britain's Finance
:00:19. > :00:21.Minister sets up a credit line to invest in India's infrastructure
:00:22. > :00:26.sector. Investing for the long`term.
:00:27. > :00:33.Singapore's sovereign wealth fund explains its strategy.
:00:34. > :00:40.Great to have you with us for this edition of Asia Business Report.
:00:41. > :00:45.India's new Prime Minister has two of the UK's most senior officials in
:00:46. > :00:49.Delhi. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, and
:00:50. > :00:54.William Hague, the Foreign Secretary. They will be discussing
:00:55. > :01:01.how British companies might benefit from plants to stimulator the Indian
:01:02. > :01:03.economy. Everyone rides on the Delhi
:01:04. > :01:06.Underground, including the Chancellor of the Exchequer ` in
:01:07. > :01:13.India, doing business with the new government here. And at the other
:01:14. > :01:15.end of the line, here is George Osborne again for talks with
:01:16. > :01:18.Narendra Modi, India's Prime Minister, whose BJP party won a
:01:19. > :01:25.landslide victory in May's general election. But the British government
:01:26. > :01:28.and Narendra Modi have not always been the best of friends, because of
:01:29. > :01:32.the Gujarat riots 12 years ago, when he was accused of not doing enough
:01:33. > :01:36.to prevent the brutal massacre of Muslims, and Britain boycotted him.
:01:37. > :01:39.Do you think that Narendra Modi harbours any kind of a grudge
:01:40. > :01:42.against the British? Back in 2002, there were concerns about what would
:01:43. > :01:47.happen, but they were extensively investigated. And this government,
:01:48. > :01:49.this British government, took a decision in 2012, actually ahead of
:01:50. > :01:58.other western nations, to re`establish contact with Narendra
:01:59. > :02:01.Modi, to begin a dialogue. A British company has played an important part
:02:02. > :02:04.developing Delhi's new air traffic control tower and airport, and
:02:05. > :02:07.winning other valuable contracts for Britain to help modernise India is
:02:08. > :02:13.what Mr Osborne and the Foreign Secretary dearly want. But it is not
:02:14. > :02:17.easy. As somebody who has worked here for a long time, what are the
:02:18. > :02:20.pitfalls you have to look out for? I think the pitfalls are dealing with
:02:21. > :02:25.the bureaucracy, and the administrative system that is there.
:02:26. > :02:30.Hopefully they are making the right moves to cut through. To grease the
:02:31. > :02:33.wheels of British businesses improving India's infrastructure, Mr
:02:34. > :02:39.Osborne is providing ?1 billion of credit. Have you ever done anything
:02:40. > :02:42.on this scale with any other country? This is the first time we
:02:43. > :02:46.have ever done anything on this scale. This is all about fixing what
:02:47. > :02:51.is not working, as well some other parts of the British economy, which
:02:52. > :02:54.is our exports. And I think as a country we depended too much on
:02:55. > :02:57.exports to the continent of Europe or to North America, you look at a
:02:58. > :03:02.country like India and you see Britain has to be more part of this.
:03:03. > :03:04.It is not all sunshine ` previous Indian governments have promised to
:03:05. > :03:10.modernise India, and have been defeated by the elements. A typical
:03:11. > :03:15.Mumbai monsoon, washing everything clean and new. It is what the Indian
:03:16. > :03:21.people I have spoken to expect of Mr Modi's government, and what he has
:03:22. > :03:23.promised. The world's second most populous country, determined to
:03:24. > :03:34.become richer, maybe with the help and to the benefit of Britain.
:03:35. > :03:42.In other business news making headlines, China's oil prices have
:03:43. > :03:49.increased compared to European levels. That is a slowdown last
:03:50. > :03:58.month. `` China's prices. They have been trying to increase domestic
:03:59. > :04:05.consumption. The US delegation includes Secretary
:04:06. > :04:11.of State John Kerry. The high`level meeting will focus on areas of
:04:12. > :04:16.cooperation ranging from security to energy to agriculture.
:04:17. > :04:20.Indonesians are at the polls today to elect a new president. It is down
:04:21. > :04:25.to a tight race between two candidates. The Jakarta government,
:04:26. > :04:33.who has a small lead over a former general in surveys. In the region,
:04:34. > :04:39.they have 119 million eligible voters. The counting will start
:04:40. > :04:44.after polls closed, which works out to noon local time.
:04:45. > :04:49.Public sector workers increase have begun a 24`hour strike to protest
:04:50. > :04:54.continuing cuts in government spending. Hospitals, tax offices and
:04:55. > :04:59.archaeological sites are expected to be disrupted by this disruption. The
:05:00. > :05:03.workers are protesting against austerity initiatives, including a
:05:04. > :05:13.40% deduction to the salaries and pensions. The European commission,
:05:14. > :05:21.the International Monetary Fund, the European Central bank, are
:05:22. > :05:26.monitoring austerity measures that were conditions for a bailout worth
:05:27. > :05:30.over 300 billion dollars. A new canal that would link the
:05:31. > :05:37.Atlantic and Pacific is one step closer to becoming a reality. A
:05:38. > :05:41.group in Nicaragua approved the waterways rich. The project aims to
:05:42. > :05:46.challenge the Panama Canal. The alternative route will pass through
:05:47. > :05:52.Lake Nicaragua from the Pacific to the Caribbean. The company has been
:05:53. > :05:59.granted a concession to build the channel. I'd asked someone from
:06:00. > :06:02.shipping Australia as to what the writ would mean the global trade.
:06:03. > :06:10.Shipping is a very competitive industry. The margins are very slim.
:06:11. > :06:17.An extra canal would certainly put pressure on prices and make some
:06:18. > :06:25.savings. How much for economical will this be? That is hard to say at
:06:26. > :06:28.this stage. When you hear of a $45 million investment and you know that
:06:29. > :06:34.they will want a return, I imagine they will not be cutting too close
:06:35. > :06:38.to the bone. The additional channel will provide an alternative to
:06:39. > :06:44.shipping companies, gives them more flexibility in their booking times
:06:45. > :06:48.and would be welcome. The Panama Canal currently has a lot of
:06:49. > :06:56.bottlenecks and delays ships by 20`30 hours. This new channel will
:06:57. > :07:02.make operations more efficient. The timing is probably not the best for
:07:03. > :07:06.the Nicaragua Canal. The Panama Canal is being broadened and an
:07:07. > :07:09.extra channel included. This will mean they should remove the
:07:10. > :07:15.bottlenecks when the new expansion is completed in around 2016. But the
:07:16. > :07:23.Nicaragua Canal has some real benefits. It is 500 or so miles less
:07:24. > :07:29.of steaming to go to the Nicaragua Canal. How important is Asian trade
:07:30. > :07:36.to this the waterway and how will Asian economies benefit from this
:07:37. > :07:40.new channel? This is really a significant benefit to the Asian
:07:41. > :07:44.trade. For a start, the new channel is meant to be deeper and wider.
:07:45. > :07:49.Even the expanded Panama will not take the biggest ships that carry
:07:50. > :07:56.the bulk cargoes from the east coast of South America. But this new canal
:07:57. > :08:04.will be able to do so. That will save them many days of steaming.
:08:05. > :08:11.Singapore's sovereign wealth fund says it is the fact that make its
:08:12. > :08:20.investments grew at a slower pace. It spent one money buying stakes in
:08:21. > :08:24.many different industries. One of the world's largest sovereign
:08:25. > :08:26.wealth funds. They have stakes in many different sectors and
:08:27. > :08:29.businesses, ranging from Chinese banks to telecommunication firms,
:08:30. > :08:33.coffee and nuts, and even infant formula. Temasek has its hands in
:08:34. > :08:42.varied sectors as a key part of Singapore's economy. It is headed by
:08:43. > :08:45.the weight of the prime minister. Last year, returns have been hit by
:08:46. > :08:48.exposure to the banking sector in China, where shares have fallen. ``
:08:49. > :08:53.wife. The heads of its investment division blamed this on short`term
:08:54. > :08:58.market volatility. China, in spite of all the talk, we still see
:08:59. > :09:03.growing at around 7% per year. We do see China offering us attractive
:09:04. > :09:06.returns in the medium term. So really our focus is on a number of
:09:07. > :09:10.sectors in China which we think will benefit from those returns. You can
:09:11. > :09:13.see our investments in the consumer sector, in juice companies and food
:09:14. > :09:21.companies, in technology, Alibaba, and so on and so forth. All these
:09:22. > :09:26.companies we think will benefit from the growth of the Chinese economy.
:09:27. > :09:28.You are one of the world's largest sovereign wealth funds, but your
:09:29. > :09:36.returns in 2013 underperformed the broader market. Shouldn't you be
:09:37. > :09:39.doing a lot better? Sometimes to get the superior long`term returns, you
:09:40. > :09:45.have to invest at times and accept short`term market volatility. You
:09:46. > :09:48.know, you mentioned that the Chinese market has been depressed for the
:09:49. > :09:53.last year, but that has actually given us opportunities to make
:09:54. > :09:56.high`quality investments. And we think we will generate superior
:09:57. > :09:59.returns for the long`term. So I really don't think one year is the
:10:00. > :10:04.right length to look at us from a performance perspective. If you take
:10:05. > :10:16.five or ten years, we have delivered returns in line with or in excess of
:10:17. > :10:20.our cost of capital. Celebrating its 40th year since its founding, they
:10:21. > :10:25.are stressing that the lower returns are just part of the bigger picture.
:10:26. > :10:30.They planned to be in it for a warm hall. And they want the shareholders
:10:31. > :10:33.to share in that journey. `` long haul.
:10:34. > :10:46.Thank you for joining us. Here are the headlines: Brazil are
:10:47. > :10:47.out of the World