:00:00. > :00:00.heavy rainfall and strong winds continue on Sunday.
:00:00. > :00:16.Now on BBC News, all the latest business news live from Singapore.
:00:17. > :00:23.Malaysia Airlines is set to receive a radical overhaul. Can its
:00:24. > :00:25.financial fortunes be fixed? India's new government is changing its
:00:26. > :00:34.outdated labour laws to help boost economic growth.
:00:35. > :00:39.Hello and welcome to Asia Business Report. I am Sharanjit Leyl in
:00:40. > :00:42.Singapore. Malaysian airlines joins the unenviable list of national
:00:43. > :00:48.carrier is forced into painful restructuring. The government
:00:49. > :00:52.investment fund looks to take total control. It will soon be delisted
:00:53. > :00:56.from the stock exchange. Does it change how travellers feel about the
:00:57. > :01:00.company? We took to the streets to find out.
:01:01. > :01:04.If the government is taking over Malaysia Airlines, I will be more
:01:05. > :01:07.confident. From a consumer point of view, it makes no difference to me.
:01:08. > :01:11.As long as the service level is maintained. It doesn't make a
:01:12. > :01:15.difference for the safety is flying with Malaysia Airlines. It doesn't
:01:16. > :01:24.matter if it is privately owned or owned by the government. I told a
:01:25. > :01:32.friend of mine to not fly. I wouldn't fly. Even if the government
:01:33. > :01:36.decides to change the airline, bring change within the airline, I would
:01:37. > :01:40.wait three or four years. I don't know. It depends if they have the
:01:41. > :01:44.best price or not. What has been the fate of others who have been downed
:01:45. > :01:49.Bell down this route? History is peppered with those who did not pull
:01:50. > :01:55.through. Pan Am in the 1990s, Swiss air after 9/11 and Indonesia 's Adam
:01:56. > :01:59.F. Malaysia might also look at the experience of Japan airlines which
:02:00. > :02:04.filed for bankruptcy and delisted in 2010. $3.3 billion of public money
:02:05. > :02:13.kept it operating while it restructured. And, 2.5 years later,
:02:14. > :02:20.it relisted. Earlier, I spoke with a Government an aviation expert. ``
:02:21. > :02:24.with an aviation expert. It requires the approval of minority
:02:25. > :02:29.shareholders up to 50%. Restructuring is absolutely
:02:30. > :02:36.necessary. To distinguish them from their list of other legacy carriers
:02:37. > :02:40.they have gone to delist because of insolvency, Malaysia Airlines isn't
:02:41. > :02:45.insolvent at the moment, they still have cash. But, they are burning it
:02:46. > :02:50.at around 5 million per day, which isn't sustainable going into 2015.
:02:51. > :02:56.Are they anticipating or correcting any of those issues coming up? You
:02:57. > :03:01.describe it earlier as a pre` bankruptcy move. Malaysia Airlines
:03:02. > :03:07.isn't unfamiliar with restructuring. They have tried it
:03:08. > :03:08.three times in 15 years. They had one reasonably successful
:03:09. > :03:14.restructure where the move of asset from the airline, selling it to a
:03:15. > :03:23.leasing company set up by the government. There is the possibility
:03:24. > :03:28.of success, obviously. But, their fortunes have been unprecedented in
:03:29. > :03:35.the aviation annuals, having lost a number of lives, equivalent to the
:03:36. > :03:39.last five years `` annuls. What does it need to do in terms of
:03:40. > :03:44.restructuring? It has been highlighted earlier this year. What
:03:45. > :03:48.needs to be done specifically? It needs to be more competitive. There
:03:49. > :03:53.is a big gap between them and their competitors. Comparing with other
:03:54. > :03:57.legacy carriers like Singapore Airlines. The shorthaul routes like
:03:58. > :04:11.domestic carriers including air Asia and the limbo `` Melindo. How do you
:04:12. > :04:15.do that? Controlling cost, managing labour, finding cheaper financing.
:04:16. > :04:21.There are many things they will probably have to do. Australia's
:04:22. > :04:25.treasury one states have received a second takeover offer worth more
:04:26. > :04:30.than $3 billion from an unnamed private equity firm. The offer comes
:04:31. > :04:33.after KKR, another equity company, raised the bid for the winemaker
:04:34. > :04:39.that owns brands like Penfold 's and ligaments. Let's speak with a market
:04:40. > :04:44.strategist at IAG markets who joins us on the line. Welcome to the
:04:45. > :04:48.programme. Why are equity firms making bids for this one firm and
:04:49. > :04:55.how lucrative is the Australian wine industry? Very interesting question.
:04:56. > :05:01.Since one estates was established, it was part of Foster's Group. It
:05:02. > :05:04.has been under a huge amount of scrutiny from private equity for a
:05:05. > :05:08.while because of the diversification of assets. It has a huge amount of
:05:09. > :05:12.assets in Australia and New Zealand and there are three major assets in
:05:13. > :05:15.the US, all of them are very lucrative from the point of view
:05:16. > :05:21.that US equity firms on the list look at using it as a way to
:05:22. > :05:29.diversify in the US. You can provide wine and beer, spirits particular
:05:30. > :05:32.into someone like TPG, the second takeover player, to move into their
:05:33. > :05:37.casinos and other private equity firms. The second part of the
:05:38. > :05:41.question is also interesting. The wine industry in Australia is very
:05:42. > :05:45.strong despite global downward pressure. Domestically, it generates
:05:46. > :05:51.most earnings in Australia and New Zealand, which is why you see good
:05:52. > :05:55.upside and reasonable premiums might have been a number of challenges,
:05:56. > :05:59.including China's austerity drive and competitors with other
:06:00. > :06:04.winemakers. There are challenges ahead in this industry, surely?
:06:05. > :06:09.There is and that is why China is key. The Australian wine industry is
:06:10. > :06:13.pushing into the Asia region. They get most of their income from Asia
:06:14. > :06:19.out of Japan, South Korea and South East Asia. That is where they see
:06:20. > :06:23.their dry. The other thing is offering the Australian wine
:06:24. > :06:27.industry as a premium. Most providers are independent and
:06:28. > :06:33.privately owned, rather than Treasury one estates which is
:06:34. > :06:36.obviously publicly listed. `` wine. That is why they tend to do OK,
:06:37. > :06:41.because the margins are slightly higher. It is a downward treasure
:06:42. > :06:50.market and spending in liquor is changing. That is why we see
:06:51. > :06:54.downward pressure. Now, last week brought news which has people
:06:55. > :06:58.wondering, could China take advantage of changes announced by
:06:59. > :07:03.its neighbour, Moscow? They have slapped import dams on items from
:07:04. > :07:07.the EU and the US and others in the sanctions battle over the crisis in
:07:08. > :07:11.Ukraine. Could China plug the trillion dollar gap in trade? I
:07:12. > :07:18.posed the question to an economist, Tony Nash. China is Russia's largest
:07:19. > :07:22.import partner. Given that relationship, China will likely
:07:23. > :07:26.benefit. If you look at the goods that Russia sanctioned in the EU and
:07:27. > :07:31.US, it is only about $2 billion worth of goods on the food side.
:07:32. > :07:38.Even if China absorbed that, it isn't a massive amount that will
:07:39. > :07:42.impact China's exports. It is the first major reform of the Narendra
:07:43. > :07:44.Modi government in India, revamping the labour laws. Something foreign
:07:45. > :07:49.companies and domestic companies have demanded. It is a plan to
:07:50. > :07:52.revive the economy, boost manufacturing and create jobs. Not
:07:53. > :08:00.everyone thinks it is a great idea. Our correspondent reports from the
:08:01. > :08:06.state of Haryana. Manufacturing makes up about 15% of
:08:07. > :08:12.the economy. India wants this to reach 25% within a decade. And,
:08:13. > :08:16.forcing companies to grow their skilled workforce by training
:08:17. > :08:22.apprentices is just one change in labour laws aimed at kickstarting
:08:23. > :08:25.the sector. India wants to encourage factories like this one to increase
:08:26. > :08:32.their contribution of manufacturing to the economy. While businesses
:08:33. > :08:35.like banks and IT companies can lay off employees pretty easily,
:08:36. > :08:40.manufacturers face different laws. Labour laws make it tough for them
:08:41. > :08:47.to hire or fire employees or even close down a factory when they want
:08:48. > :08:51.to. This car parts maker says at the moment it cannot adjust the size of
:08:52. > :08:56.its workforce to match the ebbs and flows in the business. And so it is
:08:57. > :09:00.welcoming another change in the law to make it easier to hire you fewer
:09:01. > :09:06.permanent staff and more subcontractors, making it more
:09:07. > :09:14.competitive. As a businessman, I am looking for flexibility. If
:09:15. > :09:18.businesses are fluctuating at five `10%, it is hard. There are some
:09:19. > :09:23.segments where you can have a fluctuation of up to 15%. Might the
:09:24. > :09:28.prospect of having more casual workers who don't have the same
:09:29. > :09:33.legal protection, wages or job conditions cause problems? This is
:09:34. > :09:40.the aftermath of violent clashes between workers and management at
:09:41. > :09:44.this Suzuki factory in Haryana. Months of strikes cost it more than
:09:45. > :09:50.$500 million. Workers' rights were at the heart of the dispute. The
:09:51. > :09:57.types of stand`offs some expect to increase as the number of temporary
:09:58. > :10:00.workers rises. Some question if factory floors really are the
:10:01. > :10:07.long`term answer to more employment in India anyway. In a world ever
:10:08. > :10:13.more driven by technology. But, an economic climate changing fast, most
:10:14. > :10:16.expect these changes to be the beginning of an overhaul of India's
:10:17. > :10:20.industrial landscape. Our correspondent was reporting
:10:21. > :10:27.there. You can get more of the headlines on the website.
:10:28. > :10:34.That is it for this edition of Asia Business Report. You can follow us
:10:35. > :10:37.on Twitter. Sport Today is coming up next. I am Sharanjit Leyl in
:10:38. > :10:49.Singapore. Thank you for watching.