27/08/2014 Asia Business Report

period. An independent inquiry says evidence was ignored for suppressed

by the local authority and by police. Time now for the latest

business news live from Singapore. Payouts from the company behind the

Fukushima disaster in Japan ` just how hard will it be hit? And milking

the profits ` will China's dairy giant report stronger earnings in

the face of falling prices? Hello, and welcome to Asia Business Report

on BBC world news. Just what are the limits of corporate responsibility?

Japan has ruled that responsibility for the suicide of a woman after the

Fukushima nuclear disaster lies with the owners of the plant. The company

has been ordered to pay nearly half a million dollars in compensation to

the widow, who suffered severe depression. We have more from Tokyo.

This man walked into court holding a picture of his dead wife. She fell

into deep depression after being forced from her home by the

Fukushima nuclear disaster. A month later, she took her own life. When

it came, the court's decision was emphatic ` Tokyo Electric Power was

guilty of causing her death. At a press conference a short time later,

her husband said he was overwhelmed by the decision.

TRANSLATION: When I heard the words "There is a great causal

relationship", my tears would not stop. He says he only ever wanted

TEP Co to apologise for the misery they caused to his wife. This could

pave the way for more could cloems to toek yes Electric Power.

Apparently many people are killed themselves since 2011 as a result of

the nuclear disaster. Tens of thousands more were forced to flee

their homes and businesses after the disaster and many still are unable

to return now. And then, there is the even more thorny issue of

radiation`related illnesses. Hundreds of thousands of children

are being screened for possible thyroid cancer. And TEP Co's legal

problems now stretch all the way to the United States. A group of

sailors who served in. Gentlemanen during the disaster is filing a huge

lawsuit against the company claiming they are suffering from a host of

rare illnesses because they were exposed to radiation. For Tokyo

Electric Power it's clear this ruling is just the beginning.

Indeed, the industry is indeed a crowded one. Globally there are

dozens of companies competing with each other in the dairy sector. The

top company reveals its half year results later today. Many are

looking for other ways to make money and the company are looking to

venture into the yoghurt business. But will this pay off? We take a

look at China's dairy industry. All right, it is a bull, not a cow, but

it is close enough and it's right here in the centre of Shanghai's

financial district where, at the half yearly results phase, analysts

are viewing with some caution one industry in particular ` the dairy

sector. Last year, as a result of food safety scares and other

scandals, there was an increased demand for imported milk, but China,

it seems, overdid it and it is now sitting on a huge stockpile `

milk and prices are being depressed as a result. The big dairy companies

will be hoping that the dip is shortlived and that China's changing

consumer habits mean that recovery is all but inevitable. In China it

is changing a lot, yes, not all traditional food, more Western food

and European food, like that. And, as part of that, more milk and

yoghurt as well? Why do you think that is. Yoghurt ` I love yoghurt,

it's delicious. I super love it. People want to be European and

international, you know. It's not like before, where people ate relies

and noodles every day, it's more European. And as part of that, more

milk and yoghurt? I think yoghurt is popular, because milk smells not so

nice, you know, but it's from nature and the taste is so simple. But

yoghurt is good for your stomach and it's more healthy and more tasty.

Xhie in a's growing `` China's growing taste for milk and yoghurt

isn't just good news for domestic producers, of course, but the whole

global industry. It may be struggling with low prices at the

moment, but the consensus is, it shouldn't be too long ` maybe later

in year, maybe early next ` before it returns to its old bullish form.

Staying with the dairy sector and New Zealand's dairy company says it

plans to take a 20% stake in a Chinese food maker. They are

spending more than $600 million in a gloel partnership with China's

company to help the mainland with its rising demand for infant

formula. Are you happy with what you earn? Do you think you are in the

running for a pay rise? Well, a new survey was shown, that salaries

across Asia Pacific are set to increase by an average of 7% in

2015. The higher cost of living will probably chew up most of that extra

cash. Wablgs in China could go up by 5% after inflation, and by 4% in

Vietnam, they will rise less than 1% in Japan. The industry you work in

is also important with the biggest pay rises tipped for the

pharmaceutical and high tech sectors. An employee from Towers

Watson spoke to us earlier. I think it really depends on the

affordability of the company at the end of the day. If your revenues are

rising more than the costs, then you can actually afford to be more

aggressive with your salary increases than low cost companies.

Another point to note is the differentiation, so you know, with

the budgets being limited, you really need to differentiate between

your critical skill employees, your average employees and your hot, hot

skilled sploes. And what we mean in Singapore here, if the average

increase is around 4.5%, it doesn't mean that everyone is going to get

4.5%. It can actually mean that for your high potentials, or your

critical skills staff, the increase could be 7% or 8% or 10% and for low

performance actually the increase hob zero or you could get the

inflationary increase at 2%. And you collected data from 2900 sets of

responses across 20 countries in the Asia Pacific region and the salary

hikes will be in pharmaceutical and in the high tech sectors, yes,

because there is a need for talent there. But in the financial sector

we have been going through a financial crisis over the past

several years. Why still an increase there? Well, I think the increase,

if you look at the pharmaceutical sector, is a lot more ` and in the

high tech sector ` as compared to the financial services sector. I

think everyone needs some point of increase because of the inflation.

Also, what we are seeing in the financial services sector is the pay

shift from pay at risk, which was very high, very variable, pay to now

paying more on the base salary front. That is actually causing a

movement of the pay mix in financial services. In a move that is set to

create the world's third`largest fast food restaurant, Burger King

says it has bought Canadian coffee and doughnuts chain Tim Horton's.

This could have ramifications for many Burger King restaurants in

Asia. The company will be moved to Canada ` a move that will help

Burger King lower its taxes. It is a whopper deal, bringing together

18,000 stores, including this one, together in 100 countries. And of

course, there's big money behind it. The majority shareholder is going to

be a Brazilian private equity grouped all PG Capital and it will

also involve money from one of the world's richest men, billionaire

investor Warren Buffett, who is putting up some of the financing. To

understand why Burger King is getting into this, you can see the

motto there, it says "We deliver", but the problem is that the segment

or the demand, if you like, for lunch and dinner at fast food

restaurants like this hasn't changed much since 2000. Yet, two doors down

from here there is a Dunkin Donuts and that is busy. That's why Burger

King are so keen to get their hands on the company Tim Horton's. The

company is famous for its doughnuts and coffee and the two will bring

together that with their burgers, in what is a whopping deal, perhaps,

not without controversy. Burger King is moving its headquarters north of

the border to Canada, the reason being to lower the tax bill it pays,

some says. The chief exec says that wasn't the case, tax wasn't the

recent behind the deal, and it was all about growth. Of course there

may be some scepticism, consumers have been taking to social media to

complain and the White House in the past has called these kinds of deals

unpatriotic. Although their attempts to try and introduce a to ban this

kind of practice failed and they were unable to pass a law before

Congress went on their summer recess. A report there from New York

on the megadeal between Burger King and Tim Horton's. Before we go here

is a look at US consumer confidence rose more

than expected in August climbing to its heist since October 2007. Thank

you so much for investing your time with us. Buy for now. `` bye for

now. Here are the main news stories this hour. There have been

celebrations in Gaza city and some relief in Israel ` the name

announcement of a long`term truce between Israel and the Palestinians.

Ukraine's leader, Petro