02/09/2014 Asia Business Report

of the commission will make an announcement later today. Now on BBC

News all the latest business news live from Singapore.

A trade pact by November? Officials from 12 countries are negotiating in

Hanoi for the Trans`Pacific Partnership.

Moscow hopes that a new pipeline from Russia to China will bring in

new customers. Thanks for joining us.

Trade negotiators from 12 nations are meeting in Hanoi to thrash out

an agreement on the Trans`Pacific Partnership. They failed to strike a

deal on the international trade agreement so far despite several

rounds of negotiations. The talks are scheduled to go for ten days.

The countries are aiming to clinch a broad`based deal by the end of

November, when Barack Obama is scheduled to make a visit to Asia. I

spoke to a trade expert and asked her what are main stumbling blocks

have been. The difficult issues are mostly the ones we identified from

the beginning. Agricultural issues especially. Market access problems,

textile issues, government procurement, intellectual property

concerns. Most of them we already knew about. The only new one is the

fight over state`owned enterprises. How far are the Japanese and

Americans in the negotiating process? We can see both sides

agreeing by November? Both sides have to agree by

November. The issue is who will blink first. They have spent a lot

of hours saying no to one another. Are they finally ready to say yes?

Without that piece in place, the rest of the deal cannot come

together. Automobiles and agricultural

products between the US and Japan. Who will blink first? Who will say

yes first? It's a bit tricky. There is a

solution to this. It is complicated and technical but there is a

solution in which they could use a mechanism under which, especially on

the agricultural side, you could solve the problem. They just have to

agree that it would be acceptable. I think that would work.

From what I gather from you and what you are saying, it will be a

grinding out process over the next ten days? This is a US initiative.

How important is the deal to Asia that it be done by November?

It is very important. If it is not done, it will get caught in the

electoral cycles and it may not be finished. After years of negotiating

such an important deal for Asia, it could get stuck in electoral

politics in the US if they do not close the deal in November.

Japan and India had agreed to step up their economic and security

cooperation. The move comes as the Indian Prime Minister is on a

five`day visit to Japan. Both sides have set a target of doubling

Japanese investment in India. Japan will also help with the construction

of high`speed railways and smart cities in India. They have agreed to

accelerate talks on a nuclear energy pact. The trip is being seen as an

attempt by the two democracies as a way to balance the rising weight of

China across Asia. The United Bank of India has declared Vijay Mallya a

wilful defaulter. He owns Kingfisher Airlines. It lost its licence when

it failed to end the strike by staff who had not been paid. It will be

difficult for the owner of the carrier to access more funding from

traditional backing sources. Kingfisher debts have run up to

nearly $1.5 billion. Airports, fuel suppliers and others are owed money.

$60 million is owed to the United Bank of India.

China's anti`trust regulator has given Microsoft 20 days to answer

questions about the compatibility of its operating system and Office

suite. This is coming amid an anti`monopoly investigation into the

software company. It is suspected that Microsoft has not fully

disclosed compatibility issues which are native to the software and the

operating system. Work has begun on a landmark project

to build a gas pipeline linking Russia and China. The Kremlin hopes

that it would reduce the dependence on European buyers, who have imposed

economic sanctions. It will see China buying $400 billion worth of

gas from Russia's oil giant, Gazprom. Russia also hopes that it

will open up new markets. President Putin, thousands of

kilometres from the border with Ukraine. He is in the Siberian city

to formally launch a project linked with the crisis in Russia's

relations with its western neighbour. It is a new pipeline that

will ultimately connect the gas fields of eastern Siberia with China

and with terminals on the Pacific coast, which will enable Russia to

expand seaborne exports to Asian countries such as Japan and South

Korea. TRANSLATION: Did you know that

today, we finalise a very big investment project? This is a new

pipeline which will not only allow us to increase export deliveries and

let us expand the geography of our exports, it will allow us to take

another serious doubt, supplying gas to our country, which is especially

important for the eastern parts of our country, for eastern Siberia and

the Far East. Construction is now under way. It

comes at a time when the European Union is planning further sanctions

against Russia. While there is no immediate suspect of a gas embargo `

Europe needs the fuel too much ` the crisis has highlighted the Russian

dependence on the EU. The need to sell gas is a complicating factor

for the Kremlin's foreign policy. There is a strong commercial case

for relying less on European customers which account for more

than 70% of their gas exports. The EU wants to reduce its dependence on

Russia and is now using less gas than it did a decade ago. The

continent's economic weakness, if it persists, will affect energy needs

in the future. By contrast, China is now the biggest energy consumer in

the world and its appetite is likely to continue growing strongly.

The pipeline will offer better access by sea to other Asian markets

with potential for growth. It will make a difference. But it's planned

capacity is well short of what Russia sells to Europe currently. It

will not eliminate the need to sell to a market where political

relations are today in crisis and deeply uncertain for the future.

If you are booking a concert ticket or a hotel room, many of us are

making more online transactions than ever before. This year is the first

time that consumers in the Asia`Pacific market will be spending

more than North Americans, making this the largest e`commerce market

in the world. Forecasts suggest that sales will

hit more than $525 billion compared to around $483 billion worth of

sales in North America. This may bring huge opportunities

for businesses and pose big challenges, especially to the banks.

We know that we have to be careful when we use an ATM to prevent

thieves from stealing personal information. With the growing middle

class in Asia, more people are making online transactions. What are

the security risks of using phones and mobile devices to make these

transactions? There is a significant shift of

fraud from what used to be physical point`of`sale terminals to

card`not`present transactions, such as over the phone and online. For

example, 70% of all card fraud in Australia is where the card is not

present. That is continuing. How much is this costing the banks?

What can be done to stop it? Our estimates in Asia`Pacific alone

is upwards of $400 million annually. That is increasing 20%`25% per year.

The syndicates can get a lot of information from and off individuals

either through contacting them all in areas like social media, which is

being used to perpetrate fraud. `` or in areas like social media.

How can analytics help? If you do not usually purchase

expensive jewellery and suddenly there is an expensive jewellery

transaction, the bank will flag it as potentially fraudulent. We have

taken it in the next level. We are creating statistical models

that can self`learn and stop transactions in real time using

analytics. How do the banks build a business

model around this when consumers assume that the banks will always

shoulder the losses and financial burden of fraud?

The banks understand that the cost to them if consumer attrition

happens is significant. Consumers need to be vigilant and the banks

need to have strong data security measures in order to ensure that

there are no breaches. In the new digital age, banks have

their jobs cut out for them. There is a lot the consumers can do

something to protect themselves. It is currently a lacklustre day in the

Asian market. The US markets are closed for Labour

Day. Thank you for investing time with

us. Goodbye for now. The United Nations is sending a team

to Iraq to investigate what it called acts of inhumanity on an

unimaginable scale believed to have been committed by Islamic State

jihadists. Ukraine's government has accused

Russia of bringing war to its territory after troops were forced

to withdraw from Luhansk Airport in the east of the