:00:00. > :00:12.to price rises and job cuts. Now on BBC News all the latest
:00:13. > :00:16.business news live from Singapore. More jobs and greater economic
:00:17. > :00:22.process, how innovation can help Asian countries find a way. How
:00:23. > :00:27.cutprice smart phones are helping millions to go mobile in India and
:00:28. > :00:37.creating huge opportunities for businesses. Welcome to Asia Business
:00:38. > :00:42.Report. No other region in the world has achieved growth at the rate of
:00:43. > :00:46.Asia over the last three decades but their bank is warning that to avoid
:00:47. > :00:52.being stuck in the middle income track, countries have to move away
:00:53. > :00:56.from agriculture and low`end manufacturing and engage in
:00:57. > :01:02.technology, skills and services. They invest millions in innovation
:01:03. > :01:08.but can you manage its benefits? It has been tracked for the first time,
:01:09. > :01:17.ranking Japan in first. Korea is on it's heels with many following
:01:18. > :01:25.behind. Me San Suu Kyi, Pakistan and Cambodia are at the bottom of the
:01:26. > :01:30.list `` Myanmar. We have created an index which measures the
:01:31. > :01:35.efficiency, I am talking about infrastructure and innovations but
:01:36. > :01:41.most importantly, to see whether we have converted that into efficiency
:01:42. > :01:45.of output. This index is unique in that it is able to do that and can
:01:46. > :01:52.also tell you whether a country has the capacity to innovate, incentives
:01:53. > :01:59.to do so and did the right kind of environment for innovation. It seems
:02:00. > :02:01.like it is dependent on many different factors but the greatest
:02:02. > :02:08.amount of innovation and creativity, whereabouts is it in
:02:09. > :02:15.Asia and which sectors? Japan is number one in our index. They have
:02:16. > :02:25.done pretty well in a number of sectors, technology, they are quite
:02:26. > :02:29.good. Asia in general have a tendency to not include this
:02:30. > :02:32.innovation and creativity as part of their education and this is where
:02:33. > :02:39.they will have to do a lot in the future including new education. You
:02:40. > :02:59.were talking about inputs and how it is measured Rue patrons but ``
:03:00. > :03:08.through pay tends to `` through patents. But what about Singapore?
:03:09. > :03:15.That's right. They need better outputs in the future. There is so
:03:16. > :03:21.much potential. Some of the smaller countries do not have it. That is
:03:22. > :03:28.the good part of the index, often innovation is seen as something only
:03:29. > :03:32.in the reach of the developed countries but it is equally
:03:33. > :03:40.important for smaller countries. Innovation is also a key theme of
:03:41. > :03:51.the world `` World Economic Forum I'm Mike Embley. But if China is
:03:52. > :03:56.going to continue to grow, they will need to make some changes. Now we go
:03:57. > :04:02.to our correspondent. What can you tell us? China is working to become
:04:03. > :04:10.far more innovative and they need to ask whether they are working towards
:04:11. > :04:16.the right skill set? The importance of education is an area that has
:04:17. > :04:23.been very well researched and I spoke to a senior partner in Asia
:04:24. > :04:28.about it. It is one of the gig as challenges for China going forward,
:04:29. > :04:33.to create enough high`quality jobs that will help people move towards
:04:34. > :04:37.the middle class. Just standing still with a number of jobs in
:04:38. > :04:43.manufacturing and service sectors. The unemployment rate is relatively
:04:44. > :04:49.low, around 5%. It is massive underemployment in many sectors.
:04:50. > :04:55.Especially in government companies and the like. They are being pushed
:04:56. > :05:01.by five at sectors and manufacturing `` private sectors. They are
:05:02. > :05:07.deploying the technology that they need to put robots on the line
:05:08. > :05:15.because labour has pushed up the minimum wage so much in China and
:05:16. > :05:20.labour has become very expensive. The state of enterprise is that they
:05:21. > :05:27.compete and have to do the same thing. So we have significant
:05:28. > :05:32.underemployment, what happens when this country becomes even more
:05:33. > :05:36.technologically driven and driven by innovation? It will not be a good
:05:37. > :05:40.outcome if it continues as it is but the good news is, many people
:05:41. > :05:46.recognise bat and there will be fewer jobs in traditional services
:05:47. > :05:51.like large`scale retail. Thank you Boka longline and even agriculture
:05:52. > :05:55.will be mechanized. What you have to do is change the education system
:05:56. > :06:00.while people are in traditional schooling to encourage them to
:06:01. > :06:09.develop the skills to be more creative. There needs to be a scale
:06:10. > :06:15.of free training for the people that lose their jobs. It is just getting
:06:16. > :06:21.started and it will be massive opportunity for private sector
:06:22. > :06:25.businesses. You are optimistic but do you worry about the interim
:06:26. > :06:29.period? Do you worry about what happens while China transitions with
:06:30. > :06:36.millions of graduates who cannot find work? I do worry that if we let
:06:37. > :06:39.this extend for too long, a generation of graduates will never
:06:40. > :06:51.get three skilled and will become lost. The implications of that will
:06:52. > :06:55.be horrible `` re`skilled. At this is a cultural issue as well as an
:06:56. > :07:09.educational one so you cannot envy the task. Thank you. The latest
:07:10. > :07:13.iPhones could well shake up the market but in India low`price mark
:07:14. > :07:17.devices are bombarding the market. They are set to open new online
:07:18. > :07:20.opportunities as millions of people take to the Internet for the first
:07:21. > :07:29.time. Now we go to our correspondent. India is going
:07:30. > :07:32.mobile. Smartphone sales have almost doubled from the same time last year
:07:33. > :07:40.as low`cost models have hit the market, voting devices into the
:07:41. > :07:49.hands of numbers Dove huge numbers of Indians for whom they were
:07:50. > :08:01.previously out of reach. `` huge numbers of. The Cloud Fx was just
:08:02. > :08:12.launched. Big prize is just 33 US dollars. `` the price. More Indians
:08:13. > :08:21.are now online, over half a billion in three years time. They believe
:08:22. > :08:28.Indian companies should grab this opportunity and provide immediate
:08:29. > :08:40.content, mobile phones and other media to the masses. Telecom is huge
:08:41. > :08:46.and movies are big. Indian oriented services have not yet been created.
:08:47. > :08:51.There is a loss of vernacular which will be asked for by Indian
:08:52. > :08:55.consumers. Mobile retail could also be much bigger than it is today but
:08:56. > :09:02.only if new users can be coaxed into shopping online. This mobile app
:09:03. > :09:07.developer is adept at overcoming consumer reluctance and believe new
:09:08. > :09:12.consumers need to be offered incentives to purchase online and an
:09:13. > :09:18.option to pay in cash. Not everybody has money in India and if you were
:09:19. > :09:23.going to go to any income, you would see cash on delivery as an option
:09:24. > :09:29.for low value products. Late last month, the government announced a
:09:30. > :09:34.programme to boost financial inclusion which could allow
:09:35. > :09:40.increased mobile banking. Cash may be king for now but it appears that
:09:41. > :09:51.India's online business ecosystem may be taking shape. You can catch
:09:52. > :09:58.more of that and other stories over the weekend. Starbucks is
:09:59. > :10:02.reconsidering its dress code for its workers. Staff with tattoos have
:10:03. > :10:07.been told to keep them completely under wraps. The coffee giant may
:10:08. > :10:10.now be changing its mind with an internal e`mail saying that they are
:10:11. > :10:16.revisiting their dress code including the tattoo policy. Asian
:10:17. > :10:23.shares are fairly flat this Friday with data from China due out this
:10:24. > :10:29.weekend. Industrial production and retail sales info will be released
:10:30. > :10:39.over the weekend. Thank you for watching.
:10:40. > :10:43.I'm Mike Embley. The top stories this hour. Cleared of murder but
:10:44. > :10:46.it's not over yet: on Friday Oscar Pistorius finds out if he's cleared
:10:47. > :10:49.or convicted of the manslaughter of his girlfriend. Ten Arab countries
:10:50. > :10:55.agree to join the American coalition against the jihadists of the
:10:56. > :10:56.militant group Islamic State. An