:00:00. > :00:00.Cable said the price was the best that could be achieved. Now on BBC
:00:00. > :00:11.News, all the latest business news live from Singapore.
:00:12. > :00:19.India's new government delivers its first Budget, reaction from the
:00:20. > :00:30.financial capital is next. Japan looks to a Pacific nation to secure
:00:31. > :00:38.important energy supplies. Thank you for joining us on Asia Business
:00:39. > :00:40.Report. I'm Rico Hizon. India's new government delivers its first
:00:41. > :00:45.Budget, reaction from the financial capital is next. India's new
:00:46. > :00:48.government is promising to bring back higher economic growth with its
:00:49. > :00:51.first Budget, but the reaction has been mixed. Some were disappointed
:00:52. > :00:54.that a number of key issues were ignored, and others thought it was a
:00:55. > :00:57.pragmatic Budget. The new administration had indicated that
:00:58. > :01:01.tough measures had to be in place to help the Indian economy gets back on
:01:02. > :01:14.track. We're now joined by our correspondent. Shilpa, is the Budget
:01:15. > :01:21.the bitter medicine that the Finance Minister and Narendra Modi had said
:01:22. > :01:25.it would be? This morning's newspapers have been kind. The
:01:26. > :01:31.verdict is that it was a cautious start. Industrial leaders we spoke
:01:32. > :01:35.to yesterday were disappointed. They said it was a missed opportunity,
:01:36. > :01:40.because the electoral mandate was so strong, they had the leeway to do a
:01:41. > :01:51.good job here. They haven't done a bad job, it is not strong enough.
:01:52. > :01:59.Nothing was a big bang, there were no fireworks or subsidy cuts. What
:02:00. > :02:03.about foreign investors, what is in it for them? One was a policy
:02:04. > :02:05.introduced by the previous government, which has hit local
:02:06. > :02:08.taxpayers, including Vodafone, which was hit by a tax bill
:02:09. > :02:13.retrospectively, which made many foreign investors cautious about
:02:14. > :02:16.putting money here. This controversial law has been blamed
:02:17. > :02:19.for choking investment pipelines into India, and so he made a strong
:02:20. > :02:26.statement saying that they would not support any retrospective amendment,
:02:27. > :02:29.but did not repeal the law. Many analysts are saying that this is
:02:30. > :02:38.good enough to get started with, and that the Foreign Minister will look
:02:39. > :02:42.at the market again. What are experts saying in India? The economy
:02:43. > :02:44.has been expanding below 5% over the past several quarters, could it at
:02:45. > :02:54.least improve the economic fundamentals going forward?
:02:55. > :02:58.Absolutely. It was meant to be a Budget to revive growth, and
:02:59. > :03:03.kickstart the recovery, while the country is in the worst economic
:03:04. > :03:09.state in a decade. While there were many good intentions, much debated
:03:10. > :03:15.goods and services taxes will be discussed, they will iron out the
:03:16. > :03:19.differences, introduce it next year. Bringing down the fiscal deficit,
:03:20. > :03:25.building more manufacturing zones, creating more jobs. We didn't see it
:03:26. > :03:29.any actual roadmap. We didn't see a plan in place. So a lot of people
:03:30. > :03:34.are talking about, yes, it is all good intentions, but how will he
:03:35. > :03:40.achieve this? How will he bring down the fiscal deficit? India has a huge
:03:41. > :03:44.subsidy burden for things like food, fuel, and fertiliser. It is about
:03:45. > :03:49.$40 billion, and another that has been cut. He said there has be more
:03:50. > :03:59.effective, but there are no actual cuts. Thank you for joining us.
:04:00. > :04:03.Meanwhile, for the first time in nearly three decades, Papua New
:04:04. > :04:06.Guinea is playing host to a Prime Minister from Japan. He is looking
:04:07. > :04:09.to shore up Japan's future energy supplies, and Papua New Guinea is
:04:10. > :04:14.becoming a big provider of natural gas. And while the future of
:04:15. > :04:21.Japan's 50 nuclear facilities remained undecided, finding
:04:22. > :04:27.alternative sources is a priority. They rely on the south`east Asian
:04:28. > :04:30.nation for their energy needs. I spoke to a correspondent from
:04:31. > :04:32.Sydney, and asked him what makes Papua New Guinea an attractive
:04:33. > :04:35.provider. They have extensive resources, and they have proved they
:04:36. > :04:46.might just take the first step in tapping them. It is quite clear that
:04:47. > :04:52.popular New Guinea will be an important player in the region for
:04:53. > :04:55.many years to come. A key player in deed, but should foreign investors
:04:56. > :04:58.be concerned about the security situation in the nation, and the
:04:59. > :05:01.corruption case involving the Prime Minister of the country? There are
:05:02. > :05:03.certainly risks involved in being in Papua New Guinea, and investing in
:05:04. > :05:06.large infrastructure projects there, but a lot has been learned in recent
:05:07. > :05:09.years, where environmental concerns and failure to include landowners in
:05:10. > :05:19.the benefits have meant that projects have been shut down. These
:05:20. > :05:22.lessons are fresh in the minds of investors, and in the minds of the
:05:23. > :05:25.government, and while there is turmoil at the moment, the value
:05:26. > :05:33.that could be released through these projects is so large that many are
:05:34. > :05:42.willing to take the risk. Michael McCarthy. When it comes to doing
:05:43. > :05:45.business and forcing changes, it can be quite difficult. Even harder when
:05:46. > :05:48.the people you work with are your relatives. In this latest part of
:05:49. > :05:58.our family business series, we take you to Taiwan, and a firm which is
:05:59. > :06:05.reinventing itself. For more than a century, this woman's family has
:06:06. > :06:08.been making calligraphy brushes. Their skills and knowledge are the
:06:09. > :06:11.best types of family business branding. This man is the fourth
:06:12. > :06:14.generation in the business, and he was not going to do things the way
:06:15. > :06:24.his parents, grandparents and great grandparents did. Take a closer
:06:25. > :06:27.look. Some of the shelves display not calligraphy but cosmetic
:06:28. > :06:31.brushes. Using their expertise in hair, they now sell more than a 100
:06:32. > :06:48.types of brushes for cosmetics as well. We have just written the
:06:49. > :06:51.Chinese characters for BBC. Yes. Why did you decide to transform the
:06:52. > :07:00.business from strictly calligraphy into one that makes cosmetic
:07:01. > :07:06.brushes? TRANSLATION: It was in 2008, I was working in sales in the
:07:07. > :07:09.family business, and I noticed that deliveries had declined, and passed
:07:10. > :07:12.by a nail salon and noticed how fine the nail brushes were. I thought
:07:13. > :07:21.that we could make brushes as fine as that. I didn't tell my elders, I
:07:22. > :07:25.secretly asked my brush making Master to make one. When my
:07:26. > :07:31.grandfather found out, he thought it was good quality, and that it was a
:07:32. > :07:34.good idea. Despite getting tacet approval from his elders, he faced
:07:35. > :07:37.other challenges. He had to convince customers that his company could
:07:38. > :07:40.make great brushes, not just for calligraphy, but for makeup. He also
:07:41. > :07:48.had to source new materials, and market his product in a different
:07:49. > :07:51.way, including online. Taiwan's's economy is made up of many
:07:52. > :07:54.family`run companies. This store is an example of how, in recent years,
:07:55. > :08:05.many of these businesses had transformed in order to keep running
:08:06. > :08:08.for generations to come. Their hard work has paid off. Revenue has
:08:09. > :08:10.increased, and the company is increasingly known for the makeup
:08:11. > :08:17.side of the business, which now makes up 70% of all revenue. But he
:08:18. > :08:20.has no plans to abandon the roots of the family business. He wants people
:08:21. > :08:23.to continue to appreciate calligraphy, but if they come to him
:08:24. > :08:37.first for makeup brushes, that is just good business. Coming up, don't
:08:38. > :08:44.miss Talking Business. Our host will be talking about the music industry.
:08:45. > :08:49.It has come a long way since the money was made from selling records.
:08:50. > :08:54.It is all about downloading, live performances, and music streaming.
:08:55. > :08:57.So what is the new business model for those working in industry? Here
:08:58. > :09:05.is the founder of the Black Eyed Peas. It has been a big change. Back
:09:06. > :09:07.in the day, we had to prove ourselves to the record companies,
:09:08. > :09:10.that our music was tangible, because in LA, it was predominantly gangster
:09:11. > :09:25.music, and we were not tangible enough. We would shop our demos to
:09:26. > :09:30.Interscope, Sony, we had to prove ourselves. Back then, I don't want
:09:31. > :09:35.to reveal my age, but there was no e`mail or Facebook, no Twitter, and
:09:36. > :09:37.so we had to create a mailing list. But nowadays, artists have more
:09:38. > :09:40.avenues to present their music, through YouTube and Instagram and
:09:41. > :09:56.other social media sites, and so there has been a big difference.
:09:57. > :10:02.More of that interview on the programme.
:10:03. > :10:10.Before we go, a quick look at the markets. Asian stocks are mostly in
:10:11. > :10:16.negative territory, in mid morning trade, after concerns about the
:10:17. > :10:21.financial health of Portugal's top listed rank. Investors are also
:10:22. > :10:27.anxious about the US earnings season and a spate of disappointing
:10:28. > :10:30.economic data globally. Have a great World Cup weekend, everyone.
:10:31. > :10:44.Argentina versus Germany on Sunday. Goodbye for now.
:10:45. > :10:51.The top stories sour: as the conflict between Israel and the
:10:52. > :10:58.Palestinians escalates, a ceasefire is being discussed. Germany will
:10:59. > :11:00.expel a top CIA official from the country in a row over