05/09/2014 Asia Business Report

undecided Labour voters ahead of the referendum on Scottish independence.

Now, all the latest business news from Singapore. Asia Business

Report. Nuclear diplomacy. Australia's Prime Minister is due to

sign a long`awaited uranium deal with India. Keeping up with the

times. Traditional clock and watch are struggling to compete with new,

hi`tech gadgets. Thank you for joining us. Australian Prime

Minister Tony Abbott is in India today, looking to strengthen

economic ties with the new leader, Narendra Modi. They are expected to

sign a deal that will allow Australian nuclear fuel exports to

India, which lifted its ban on uranium sales to years ago. What

will it mean to Australian companies in the uranium business? This is a

great deal for Australia in the sense that it opens up market access

to what will ultimately be a large market. Over the next five, ten, 15

years, as India rolls out its financial nuclear programme, this

will be a good thing for our industry. Isn't that to long`term?

Ten, 15 years before shipping uranium to India? There will be

shipments leading up to that period but the big build`up will start the

next five years. It is our responsibility to get our production

organised and ready for that demand. How important is India as a market

for Australian uranium? Very important. We already have a

bilateral agreement with China. Once we have a bilateral agreement in

place with China, one third of the world's people... They will be two

of the largest growing energy markets in the world and nuclear

energy will be an important component of that for them. Both of

those companies have high populations and they have air

quality issues. Nuclear energy with zero emissions is a very compelling

value proposition in the energy mix. It is like a good scenario for both

Australia and India, but what could be the downside of this deal? I

don't see any downside. 400 million people in India have no

electricity. They will be looking to roll out that electricity for the

population and we are in the business of helping them supply the

floor for that. Staying in India, one out of every four women work.

That is lower than in other developing countries like Indonesia,

Brazil, Nigeria and Russia. A small percentage rise in top companies in

sectors with large female workforces in the country... What is holding

Indian women back? We have to redefine the way we score our

Brownie points for ourselves. If a man goes out, he goes to work, you

give him a Brownie point, he is not tired and he has not gone out with

his friends, you give him a Brownie point. He comes home and he says he

does not mind cleaning his own plate and you give him a Brownie point.

What happens to women? Women go out and she has left her children. She

has a negative point. She comes home late from work and she gets another

negative point. The husband takes his own plate and you get another

negative point. The same set of circumstances but the scoring system

is so different in the minds of most people that the women feel guilty

automatically. Tune in for that full discussion on BBC News. The European

Central Bank has surprised investors, unexpectedly cutting the

cost of borrowing. Mario Draghi said that the European Central Bank would

lower the key rate to 0.05%. It has also promised to start buying bonds

and loans next month in order to support the European economy. A

federal judge has ruled that the peak acted with gross negligence in

causing the biggest offshore oil spill and environmental disaster in

US history. The long`awaited decision may force the energy

company to pay $18 billion more for the 2010 disaster. They have already

paid more than $42 billion in charges. 11 people were killed in

the explosion, which caused oil to school for almost three months into

the Gulf of Mexico. `` oil to spill. Singapore moved from a third

World country status to a first world country status in just 25

years. Is that possible anywhere else? According to analysts, the

road taken by Singapore is a way of transforming a nation that can also

help eradicate poverty, running the country in the same way that he

would run a business. I recently asked if any other Asian countries

had followed a similar strategy. If you think about the 1978 visit of

Den Xiaoping from China, he came to Singapore and realised that

immigrants from his country were doing so well. He went back to

replicate the Singapore model in coastal cities and look at what

happened with the transformation in those cities. What will this mean,

basically, for economic growth in the nation? The reality is that poor

people don't have to stay poor. They need jobs to get income and then to

get the better quality of life. To get jobs, you need more

entrepreneurial ship and business models. What we want to do is train

people to have the capacity to build their own lives. One day, the poor

have to earn enough to pay taxes so the government can give them vital

services. You have mentioned China. Which other countries in the region

have been able to successfully implement this model? Korea is the

same. They got out of poverty through business. Switzerland 150

years ago was a very poor country. And then they developed watches and

private banking and eventually became one of the richest countries

in the world. Which other countries in Asia have the potential of being

able to implement and succeed with this model? All Asian countries are

largely entrepreneurial by DNA. If you look at the Philippines,

Indonesia, Vietnam, India, very hard`working people. They love

to do business. What you have to do is

help themselves. You cannot give a person a fish.

them to fish, revolutionising the fishing industry and make sure that

everything is connected into an ecosystem that can produce a big

impact. If you need to know what time it is, these days, there is a

good chance you will look in your pocket instead of at your wrist.

Mobile phones have made wearing a watch strictly optional. Even though

the times do not seem to suit watchmakers, some have still managed

to prosper. We visited the Hong Kong Watch And Clock Fair to see how they

are dealing with the changes. I am one of the 4.5 billion people in the

world who own a mobile phone. This device allows me to travel

incredibly light. I no longer have to wear a watch and have not done so

for years. Here at the biggest industry event in the world, the

impact of mobile phones on the watch industry is being hotly debated. One

survey shows nearly three out of five people in America under the age

of 35 years their phone as their main timepiece. Kenneth used to make

basic models for retailers like Walmart but has stopped doing so.

Those were retailing below $10. What you would find in drugstores or

discount stores. They were not needed any more. People can rely on

their phones to tell the time. For those types of watches, we do not

see a market. That does not mean that digital watches have been wiped

out. He now focuses on fashion conscious designs that sell for $125

each. The sector as a whole is still growing. Globally, it was worth $48

billion in 2008 and expanded by 5% over five years. By 2013, it was

worth $62 billion and is expected to grow by just under 6%. This industry

veteran says watches that have smartphone capabilities are one of

the most promising new areas. With the new 2K generation coming into

buying power, Smart watch technology will be a good thing to buy into for

the consumer sector that our industry can work into and build on

all stop other companies focus on luxury. This model by a Chinese

maker boasts of skilled craftsmanship and costs $20,000. To

some extent, mobile phones have indeed replaced watches as tools for

telling time. But with an emphasis on style and technology, some

watchmakers have managed to survive and sometimes even thrive. Thank you

for investing your time with us. Goodbye for now.

This is BBC News. The headlines: Nato leaders have warned the Ukraine

crisis and Islamist extremism poses dramatic new threats to world

security. The Ukrainian president says he hopes a ceasefire with

pro`Russian rebels can be signed on Friday. After the horse meat scandal

last