31/07/2014 Asia Business Report


31/07/2014

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blaze. Those are the headlines. Time to go

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to Singapore and get all the latest business.

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John Kerry leads the first delegation to India since the

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elections in May. Striking a chord in Asia. How the

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parents of children like this young boy are driving growth for piano

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makers. Thank you for joining us for this

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edition of Asia Business Report. The American online retail giant Amazon

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is boosting its business in with a $2 billion investment. John

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Kerry let a delegation to India for the first time since Narenda Modi

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won a landslide victory. Even before he arrived, John Kerry

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was talking about the relations between the US and India with a

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promise to increase trade and investment. Now is the time to renew

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that dialogue with the new government and a new set of

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opportunities. This is a potentially transformative moment in our

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partnership. Despite the up its political rhetoric, relationships

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between the democracies are not at their best. Disputes over trade and

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international property have dominated ties. `` intellectual.

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There are plenty of hurdles to clear. India is desperate for more

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energy. And it has its eye on sheep Shell gas imports from the US. ``

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cheap. At the moment it only sells gas to countries it has a freak

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trade agreement with. `` free trade. India wants the US to open up the

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market. The US, on the other hand, is worried about protection of

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intellectual property, especially pharmaceuticals. India needs to be

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reaching out to all partners. We are pleased that the US is India's

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second largest trading partner. There was an enormous possibility

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for growth. Trade in goods and services between the US and India

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totalled almost $100 billion last year. A fivefold increase since

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2000. Narenda Modi will visit the US later this year to meet President

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Obama. It could be a significant step to repairing the relationship

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between the countries. But some unimportant ground work is likely to

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be done here in the next few days. `` important.

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The world's biggest economy has indeed bounced back. US holdings

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expanded by 4%. That traverses a sharp 2.9% annual fall in the start

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of the year. `` reverses. The Federal reserve said it would ease

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back on its stimulus efforts. The central bank reaffirmed that it

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is in no hurry to raise the cost of borrowing. As for Asian stocks, also

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in positive territory. The US dollar has disappointed investors on its

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bias on monetary policy. Moving the technology.

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Samsung's second`quarter profits plunging nearly 20% from a year ago.

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It is because of a slowdown in its smartphone business. The

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disappointing numbers are largely in line with the previous. Nintendo

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shares are tumbling after bigger than expected first`quarter losses.

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It has a $97 million deficit in the three months to June compared and

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$84 million profit for the same period a year ago. Sales are down

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despite the release in May. Microsoft's Xbox one is being

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launched in China in late September. The first main foreign games console

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to go on sale there for teen years. It comes in spite of an antimonopoly

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investigation into the US company by mainland authorities.

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In Hong Kong, the international conglomerate controlled by Asia's

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richest family will unveil its half`year results. It is not

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expected to deliver a much in terms of profit growth.

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The telecoms conglomerate has had a busy year so far. In much the

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billionaire behind the group sold the bulk of his stake in a container

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terminal. The deal raised questions about his continuing commitment to

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Hong Kong, a business focused city. Later in the same month, Hutchinson

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announced it would sell a quarter of its stake in the health and beauty

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chain Watsons. For nearly $6 billion. He also decided to list his

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power assets on the Hong Kong stock exchange. It was not as successful

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as expected. Some investors said they were due to reap. `` jittery.

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He did it in a three`month period by selling three major assets of his

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companies. That makes people think it might not be a very good value.

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With so many high profile divestments this year, savvy

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investors are wondering if Hong Kong is no longer a great place to put

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one's money. TRANSLATION: That is why he decided to sell off the

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assets. He makes the product from Hong Kong. I think he will still

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stay in Hong Kong. He said he is not abandoning Hong Kong for greener

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pastures, saying the asset sales are a normal part of the business cycle.

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But he has admitted to losing sleep over the city's future. One major

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worry is a planned civil disobedience movement organised by

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pro`democracy activists who want genuine democratic reforms. He

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believes the sit in will hurt Hong Kong. So far, stock`market investors

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have shown little concern over occupy a central. But they will be

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closely watching the results briefing for any clues into how the

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company plans to spend the money raised from the asset sales.

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One of the world's best`known carmakers has made huge inroads into

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China over the past decade. `` piano makers.

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Like many parents in Asia, mind pushed me to play the piano. But

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unlike many parents now, mind could not afford to get me one of these.

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One of these can set you back about $250,000. Asia makes up nearly half

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the global sales, and growth is expected at 20% this year alone.

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With me now is the president of Steinway Asia`Pacific. What is

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behind this growth? Is it down the pushy parents? I would not say pushy

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parents, but parents who take care of the education of their children.

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When it comes to piano playing. It is that approach to learning that

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saw this young man's parents get him a Steinway earlier this year. He is

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just 11 years old. In each and unique to this region, nearly half

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of the sales in many Asian countries are down to parents buying them for

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their young children. Ten years ago, Steinway hardly sold any pianos

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in China. Now it has become popular to play piano. You have been

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credited with turning around the fortunes of Steinway. How did you

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manage to do that? When I came to China, it did not look so inviting

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for a product like ours. Within the past ten years, we have built our

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base in Shanghai. We also develop the market by talking very closely

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to the education people, the institutions. The conservator is.

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How do you build a business model around a product that does not need

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replacing? We mostly have one time buyers. You cannot keep telling them

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that you need a new one. It is just developing. It is growing with the

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player. People talk about it. They are telling their friends. This is

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one part of the success. The second part is we are a global company.

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There are always markets we can develop.

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Great talent. A star in the making. Thank you for investing your time

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with us. Goodbye for now. You are watching BBC News. Here are

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the headlines: The United States and the United Nations have condemned an

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attack on a US school in Gaza that was sheltering

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