08/09/2014 Asia Business Report


08/09/2014

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the United Kingdom. Now on BBC News, all

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all the latest business use live from Singapore `` news.

:00:00.:00:18.

Ali Babar is set for its biggest share sale in US history with hopes

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of raising $24 billion from its stock `` Alibaba. Crackdown on

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corruption in China hits mooncake sales ahead of the mid Autumn

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Festival. Thank you for joining us for this

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addition of Asia Business Report. I am Rico Hizon. We have talked about

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this massive stock offering four months and now it has finally

:00:45.:00:48.

happened. China's e`commerce giant Alibaba is taking its shares on the

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road to attract investors in a bid to raise $24 billion. How will the

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companies that? I spoke earlier with an economist from the graduate

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School in Beijing, where the CEO of Alibaba studied. The situation is

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different in China from the US. What they have done successfully in China

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might not be transferred easily into the US. Why not? Chinese people for

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example want something cheap, so that is the foundation. You have

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stuff that might not be real, might not be authentic, but sells for a

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cheap price, so that business model I don't think would fly in the US.

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Do you think the success of Jack Moss' leadership and the

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entrepreneurial acumen in China will be successful in a US business best

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? It might not be possible but that doesn't matter because the value of

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Alibaba is based on their performance and their status in

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China `` business? It is worth the IPO valuation that is proposed. What

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will be the long`term strategy outside China? As he tries to

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conquer the Western markets? The long`term strategy of course is to

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be the award leading .com company. There is no question. Jack Meagher

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is very patient and realistic about that part of the strategy `` dot com

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company. It will be step`by`step. The focus will still be in China in

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the next few years but they will test the water in other leading

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countries such as the US. In other news, the Japanese online retail

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giant Racutin, is in talk to buy eBay. If the sales close, it will be

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the company's fifth major overseas investment in the last year ``

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Rakuten. The acquisition price for the majority stake is said to be

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about $950 million. Revised date from Japan shows the economy shrank

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by 7.1% in the three months to June from the previous quarter in more

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than expected. There are concerns about the impact of sales tax hike

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in April. The contraction was the biggest since early 2009 when the

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global financial crisis hit Japan's exports and output.

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It is six months since Malaysia Airlines flight 370 disappeared. In

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addition to a human tragedy, it has had a major impact on Malaysia's

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tourism industry. Until this year, the tourism sector experienced

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significant and sustained growth. Last year, the nation had 25 million

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visitors who collectively brought in about $25 billion. This year hasn't

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been so good. Our correspondent reports.

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Here in Kuala Lumpur international airport the number of Chinese

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tourists walking through this a rival door behind me has dropped

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significantly in the past few months. `` arrival. That is because

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they have shunned Malaysia following the mysterious disappearance of

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flight MH370 in March. More than half the passengers on board the

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flight were from the mainland. As the search went on, and no plane was

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found, and no answers were given, the shock and grief turned to anger.

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Both travel operators and even celebrities call for a boycott of

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Malaysia while they were even street protests in Beijing. `` there.

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Visitor numbers to Malaysia plummeted. In the first five month

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of this year, Chinese rivals to Malaysia fell by 7% for Malaysia

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Airlines, they saw bookings by Chinese tourists plummet by 60% in

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the weeks following the plane's disappearance `` Chinese arrivals. A

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spate of kidnappings of Chinese nationals on the east coast of

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Malaysia in an area famous for the resorts made it worse. Airlines are

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offering hefty discounts to attract Chinese tourists back to Malaysia

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but with MH370 still missing, it will be a big challenge.

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Earlier, I asked a spokesman from end our analytics when we can expect

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this drop in tourism to turn around. People understand this was a very

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unique experience with MH370 and MH 70 `` Endau Analytics. We have seen

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more people from China, India, elsewhere in Asia, indeed from

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Europe, coming here in numbers already `` MH17. If you do business

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in Asia you will probably be familiar with the mooncake. It is a

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popular gift and symbol of building trust and friendship and goes on

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sale once a year. That is for the day's mid Autumn Festival. The

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multi`million dollar industry takes a hit this year because China has

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banned public money being spent on them. Our correspondent went to find

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out what the fuss is all about. Traditionally, mooncakes are sold in

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the weeks leading up to the mid Autumn Festival as a holiday treat

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but they have also become an important part in the way business

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is done in many countries in Asia. Look at this department store in

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Singapore. The entire floor is devoted to them and they are selling

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like hotcakes. We have about 3`10% in growth on today's sales for this

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year. It has been fantastic. There are nearly 60 brands on sale. Even

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gold dusted mooncakes, which have become difficult to find in the

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world's biggest market, China. For years, Chinese factories like this

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one have worked overtime to meet the demand for the pastry. The Chinese

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president crackdown on corruption has even taken aim at the humble

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mooncake. That's because the luxury varieties can represent a blurring

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of the line between a gift and a bride. As a result, sales by Chinese

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manufacturers have been slashed in half from last year 's levels ``

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bribe. That's not stopping producers like this woman, whose bakery in

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Singapore has only been making mooncakes for two years. We are

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looking to expand into South East Asia despite the fact that in China

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is falling in sales, we are open to going there. Until then, she has no

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shortage of buyers here. With many of these brands selling out well

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ahead of today's Mid Autumn Festival.

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Innovation isn't a word people usually used to describe China. Off

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and it is associated with cheap knockoffs and back raking

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sweatshops. One entrepreneur is trying to change that perception. In

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the latest instalment of our my business Asia series, we speak with

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the woman about her firm, a Beijing `based educational company with a

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different approach to teaching young people.

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I am from Beijing makers space. I found it a cutting`edge technology

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company for kids one year ago, it is called Creatica. We mainly provide

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technology, such as 3D printing, laser cutting, soft circuits, coding

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for web. At Creatica, we aren't only a content supplier. We design a

:08:51.:08:57.

curriculum to help them deliver thinking, passion and ideas to kids.

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In China, because there are people who are motivated but don't have the

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platform, we played a very important role in working as a bridge between

:09:11.:09:16.

makers, societies, community and between kids. At this market in

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China, the Dell make it is very big. However, in the beginning, I wasn't

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very confident `` it is very big. We don't have a big budget for the

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commercial advertisements, so we basically are based on word of

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mouth. In China, it is common for business to copy each other. So, we

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have to constantly make new curriculum and keep innovating. At

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the very beginning, the first people who joined us were privileged

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families in China. Now, we are very popular with parents who even fly

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from other cities to come here. They were super excited because they had

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never seen sparkles in their kid's eyes and they are excited that China

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has something like this. Let's have a look at the markets and

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Asian shares are off to a cautious start on Monday as investors

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digestive Wall Street gains and the weaker than expected jobs report.

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You have Japan and Hong Kong in positive territory only slightly,

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but Australia is down by 16.5. Thank you so much for investing your time

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with us. A Rico Hizon. Goodbye for now. `` I am Rico Hizon.

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Hello. You are watching BBC News. President Obama says he will

:10:48.:10:50.

announce his plan to deal with Islamic State jihadis. Malaysia mark

:10:51.:10:55.

six months since the disappearance of

:10:56.:10:56.

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