:00:00. > :00:00.compensation. Now on BBC News, it is time for the
:00:00. > :00:15.latest business news live from Singapore. It is Asia Business
:00:16. > :00:21.Report with Rico Hizon. As New Zealand is up for the general
:00:22. > :00:28.elections, what role will the economy play? Going social. Banks
:00:29. > :00:38.look for ways to tap into the growing smart phone market.
:00:39. > :00:43.Thank you for joining us of this addition of World Business Report on
:00:44. > :00:46.BBC News. I am Ricco who's on. `` Rico Hizon.
:00:47. > :00:49.If no news is good news, perhaps that's why we hear so little about
:00:50. > :00:52.New Zealand's economy. But as it enters its election
:00:53. > :00:54.campaign period, there are clouds on the horizon. Export values dipped
:00:55. > :00:57.sharply in the last quarter. And dairy, which is the nation's largest
:00:58. > :01:01.export, is a concern with farm incomes forecast to fall 3.5 billion
:01:02. > :01:04.dollars or 1.5% of GDP over the next year. Earlier, my colleague, Rico
:01:05. > :01:07.Hizon, spoke to ANZ's Chief Economist, Cameron Bagrie, in
:01:08. > :01:16.Wellington and asked if he was concerned about the overall outlook
:01:17. > :01:23.for the economy. Generally, the economic performance
:01:24. > :01:29.has been rock solid. The New Zealand economy has been turned into a rock
:01:30. > :01:34.star economy. We have seen economic cracks. Dairy prices have come under
:01:35. > :01:41.pressure. The housing market's looking soft under the bonnet. New
:01:42. > :01:44.Zealand is getting thrown around by global and local gyrations. You have
:01:45. > :01:47.to learn how to rock and roll if you want to be an economic rock star.
:01:48. > :01:56.Under the bonnet, the economy is working well. If it is in a rock and
:01:57. > :02:02.roll status, what else would you like to see from the national party
:02:03. > :02:06.led by the PM? They are hitting the right notes with a strong focus on
:02:07. > :02:11.driving an efficient and productive economy across the state sector with
:02:12. > :02:18.strategic priorities rebuilding Christchurch. We are turning
:02:19. > :02:21.substantial deficits into fiscal surplus so that the government isn't
:02:22. > :02:28.looking at borrowing lots of money but driving efficiency across the
:02:29. > :02:33.economy. ANZ's chief economist from Wellington.
:02:34. > :02:36.India's biggest carmaker, Tatar Motors, has reported a big jump in
:02:37. > :02:39.profits thanks to strong sales at its Jaguar Land Rover business.
:02:40. > :02:42.Overall the company saw its profits triple to more than $880 million in
:02:43. > :02:45.the three months to June, which was far more than analysts had expected.
:02:46. > :02:51.The strong sales at Jaguar Land Rover offset a near 30% fall in
:02:52. > :02:54.domestic vehicle sales. Pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline
:02:55. > :02:56.is facing new claims that it bribed distributors in Syria to increase
:02:57. > :03:00.sales there. Reuters news agency says it has seen an anonymous e`mail
:03:01. > :03:02.sent to top management about the charges. The claims follow other
:03:03. > :03:05.corruption accusations related to GSK's business in Syria, as well as
:03:06. > :03:14.bribery claims in China. GSK said it would thoroughly investigate the
:03:15. > :03:17.claims. China's biggest re`insurer is
:03:18. > :03:20.reportedly planning to publicly list in Hong Kong. According to the Wall
:03:21. > :03:23.Street Journal, China Reinsurance is looking to raise up to about $2
:03:24. > :03:31.billion in an initial public offering in the first half of next
:03:32. > :03:34.year. It marks the Chinese government's latest attempt to open
:03:35. > :03:38.up its financial sector. Earlier, Juliana Liu in Hong Kong spoke to me
:03:39. > :03:47.about whether this listing would be welcomed.
:03:48. > :03:50.The news is welcomed by the investment bankers in Hong Kong who
:03:51. > :03:55.stand to make a lot of money from big listings like this. Hong Kong
:03:56. > :03:59.used to be the listings capital of the world but hasn't been the case
:04:00. > :04:10.to court to back years because of a drying up of listings `` going back.
:04:11. > :04:13.`` two years. This is a wave of another trend of companies listing
:04:14. > :04:17.again because of this new administration under the new
:04:18. > :04:23.President and Premier has done a lot to reform the financial industry
:04:24. > :04:28.once again. Last year we saw the establishment of a free`trade zone
:04:29. > :04:31.Shanghai. Later, we will see Hong Kong and Shanghai's stock markets be
:04:32. > :04:37.able to trade in each other's markets. We have had a wave of
:04:38. > :04:47.announcements about reforms in state`owned banks including China
:04:48. > :04:56.Everbright. China Reinsurance is an enormous insurer to other insurers.
:04:57. > :05:02.It enjoys a monopoly. This is unique. Investors will be
:05:03. > :05:07.interested. Indeed, investment bankers will rejoice. What about
:05:08. > :05:10.investors? It depends on the evaluation of these listings. There
:05:11. > :05:16.are several major Chinese companies planning to list in Hong Kong in
:05:17. > :05:24.2014. According to the Wall Street Journal, China Postal Bank and the
:05:25. > :05:32.big investment bank, the ICC, will also look at coming to market in the
:05:33. > :05:37.next year. Valuations are key. We saw with the China pork supply, the
:05:38. > :05:42.W H group, that they could not get the valuations that they hoped for.
:05:43. > :05:47.That is why they had to reduce the size of the listing. It looks as
:05:48. > :05:50.though the investment bankers and companies themselves are becoming
:05:51. > :05:56.more realistic about what investors are willing to pay.
:05:57. > :05:59.Have you ever had to pay back a friend some cash, but had to wait
:06:00. > :06:02.because you didn't have their bank account details? Well, banks and
:06:03. > :06:07.others are trying to solve the problem by letting you transfer
:06:08. > :06:10.money by phone or social media. Vince Tallent is the Chief Executive
:06:11. > :06:20.of fastacash, which is expanding in this sector and he spoke to Rico
:06:21. > :06:24.Hizon about security. One of our biggest concerns has
:06:25. > :06:28.always been security and our view is that the best way to address that is
:06:29. > :06:32.to work with the financial institutions, for example, banks. We
:06:33. > :06:35.want to make sure the security layers that banks look at are the
:06:36. > :06:41.same that we are looking at. Working with big banks. They see the
:06:42. > :06:46.opportunity in this platform and launched their own platforms. They
:06:47. > :06:51.are now your competitors even though you are working with them. We don't
:06:52. > :06:57.see them our goal is to partner with the right people who have the
:06:58. > :07:03.licences to enable the movement of value. We provide technology `` we
:07:04. > :07:08.don't see them as our competitors. We believe that what they have
:07:09. > :07:14.launched is narrow. We are focused on any social network, any messaging
:07:15. > :07:18.channel. Vince talent from fastacash.
:07:19. > :07:22.With the explosion of social media in recent years, you might be hard
:07:23. > :07:25.pressed to find a marketing expert who doesn't recommend it as part of
:07:26. > :07:28.any business strategy. But, is it really worth the time and effort to
:07:29. > :07:31.build a social media presence? Ashleigh Nghiem speaks to two
:07:32. > :07:39.experts about the challenges and advantages that it brings.
:07:40. > :07:44.It wasn't long ago that big rand firms spent millions on advertising
:07:45. > :07:47.in traditional media. `` brand. In this digital age, it is about direct
:07:48. > :07:55.engagement with consumers on phones or tablets. By lighting and sharing
:07:56. > :08:00.content on social media, they can help brands build brand loyalty with
:08:01. > :08:07.friends and family, let's go find out how they measure success ``
:08:08. > :08:09.liking. With me now are two social media experts, Dan Sloan from this
:08:10. > :08:20.and Ann Thomas Frampton from Pokhran. How much do you invest in
:08:21. > :08:24.social media? In addition, we have created a team of former
:08:25. > :08:29.journalists who have come together to create a media centre. They
:08:30. > :08:35.create content and we use social media as a distribution platform.
:08:36. > :08:41.Relative to that content, you can measure exactly how many eyes you
:08:42. > :08:45.are getting and ultimately what the return on investment is from hiring
:08:46. > :08:49.a team and making this move. Thomas, you have seen this trend
:08:50. > :08:54.across Asia? Absolutely. We have seen every type of company in every
:08:55. > :09:00.category increased their capability of communicating in an engagement
:09:01. > :09:04.format rather than broadcast form. With potential customers often
:09:05. > :09:09.through the creation of content studios or content factories or some
:09:10. > :09:13.similar structure that helps to create the necessary material. Is it
:09:14. > :09:19.all about whether something goes viral? What social needs to do is
:09:20. > :09:26.not look for likes or Twitter followers, it's about solving
:09:27. > :09:31.business problems. How do we use social media to solve a company
:09:32. > :09:35.problem? If it doesn't directly translate to sales and profit, why
:09:36. > :09:43.do it? We know stories will resonate most, fast cars, cool technology,
:09:44. > :09:47.the breadth of stories that we are creating guarantee loss leaders.
:09:48. > :09:53.They won't be universally interesting or viral, but it's all
:09:54. > :10:00.part of knowing more about the brand and we need to make the story. Thank
:10:01. > :10:04.Stan and Thomas. Social media is important in building brand loyalty
:10:05. > :10:14.and is one tool in modern marketing campaigns `` thanks Dan. Before we
:10:15. > :10:20.go, a quick look at the markets. Asian stocks are in positive
:10:21. > :10:23.territory. US equities ended higher overnight with investors hoping
:10:24. > :10:26.Russia's move to send humanitarian aid to Ukraine will ease tensions
:10:27. > :10:31.between the countries. If Japan and Australia are in negative territory
:10:32. > :10:43.but Hong Kong's Hang Seng index is slightly lower. `` Japan and
:10:44. > :10:47.Australia. I and Mike Embley in London with the
:10:48. > :10:50.main stories this hour. The Oscar`winning actor and comedian,
:10:51. > :10:53.Robin Williams, has died at his home in California at the age of 63.
:10:54. > :10:54.Police say he appears to have killed himself.
:10:55. > :10:57.Thousands of Iraqis who've fled islamic militants remain stranded,
:10:58. > :10:59.many without food or water as political disagreement