:00:00. > :00:00.head injuries on a beach on the island of Koh Tao. Now on BBC News,
:00:00. > :00:19.all the latest business news live from Singapore. Raising the stakes,
:00:20. > :00:25.e`commerce giant Alibaba hikes its price days before its listing. And
:00:26. > :00:35.why India looks set to become the world's fastest`growing exporter.
:00:36. > :00:40.Hello and welcome to Asia Business Report on BBC World News. I am Rico
:00:41. > :00:46.Hizon. China's e`commerce giant Alibaba has boosted the price of its
:00:47. > :00:50.US share flotation to between 66 and $68 per share, in a sign there is
:00:51. > :00:55.strong investor demand for its initial public offering. This news
:00:56. > :00:59.comes as the Alibaba roadshow arrives in Singapore. Our reporter
:01:00. > :01:04.has been looking at this huge share sale, and why it matters. She joins
:01:05. > :01:13.us now live from outside the venue for today's investors' lunch. Good
:01:14. > :01:17.morning, Rico Hizon. I am standing outside the Ritz Carlton hotel where
:01:18. > :01:22.will the roadshow has come to Singapore. This has been shrouded in
:01:23. > :01:25.secrecy and not a lot of detail has been given out, but what I can tell
:01:26. > :01:30.you is that this share price that you mentioned of between 66 and $68
:01:31. > :01:34.goes ahead, Alibaba stance to raise up to $25 billion in its share
:01:35. > :01:36.listing. It was already set to become the biggest in history, and
:01:37. > :01:42.despite the huge investor interest, many people still don't know about.
:01:43. > :01:46.With just days to go until Alibaba's stock listing in New
:01:47. > :01:51.York, it is the talk of investors from Hong Kong to Wall Street. While
:01:52. > :01:56.it may be based in China, it is the world's biggest e`commerce company.
:01:57. > :02:02.In fact, more than 80% of online sales in China happen on an Alibaba
:02:03. > :02:06.site. But how big it is it outside its home market? We hit the streets
:02:07. > :02:10.of two of the world's biggest shopping mecca is to ask whether
:02:11. > :02:19.they had heard of Alibaba. First to London. Alibaba, a long time ago.
:02:20. > :02:30.Aladdin. and the 40 thieves. Have you heard about Alibaba? Kebabs
:02:31. > :02:34.shop? No. I am from China and I have never heard of it. Is actually an
:02:35. > :02:40.Arabian fairy tale, it is not Chinese. I have heard of it, but
:02:41. > :02:44.have never been to the site. Of course the closer you get to China,
:02:45. > :02:52.people not only no Alibaba and shop on its site, but it has also been an
:02:53. > :02:58.inspiration for entrepreneurs like this 29`year`old who has teamed up
:02:59. > :03:03.with the Chinese tech giant to sell more than 1 million products. We
:03:04. > :03:08.solve the problems in terms of language, in terms of payments, in
:03:09. > :03:15.terms of inspection, in terms of shipping. So they have four parts,
:03:16. > :03:20.we do better. Alibaba and its offshoots may not yet be household
:03:21. > :03:26.names, but once its shares hit Wall Street, that may change. Something
:03:27. > :03:31.the owner is banking on, as he looks to expand his own business. The
:03:32. > :03:36.countdown is on, and all details will be revealed on Friday. From
:03:37. > :03:45.Singapore, the roadshow heads to London, and then goes to Chicago.
:03:46. > :03:49.Outside the venue for today's investors lunch for Alibaba, our
:03:50. > :03:56.correspondent. In other news making headlines, Microsoft has purchased
:03:57. > :04:03.the Swedish company behind the popular videogame Minecraft, for 2.5
:04:04. > :04:07.billion US dollars. More than 50 million copies of the game have been
:04:08. > :04:12.sold, which allows players to build objects with Lego style locks as
:04:13. > :04:18.well as acyl other players and explore our map. The original
:04:19. > :04:24.creators are leaving the company but have told investors everything will
:04:25. > :04:30.be OK. Jean`Paul Gaultier says it is to stop making ready to wear clothes
:04:31. > :04:32.for men and women. A fashion house said it will be concentrating on
:04:33. > :04:36.exclusive custom`made clothes from now on, as well as its perfume
:04:37. > :04:41.lines. Jean`Paul Gaultier launched his business in the early 1980s, and
:04:42. > :04:45.it is one of the world's best known fashion designers. Some positive
:04:46. > :04:49.news for India this morning with the country tipped to become the
:04:50. > :04:54.world's fastest`growing exporter. HSBC says global trade is heading
:04:55. > :04:59.for long`term growth after a period of stagnation trickle by the global
:05:00. > :05:05.financial crisis. `` triggered by that gets it. Our correspondent has
:05:06. > :05:10.more. When Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave his independent state
:05:11. > :05:13.speech recently he coined a new catchphrase, made in India. Sell
:05:14. > :05:19.anywhere, but manufactured here, he said. In reality he knows the true
:05:20. > :05:24.potential is to sell abroad. Despite its size, India is only the world's
:05:25. > :05:29.14th largest exporter, and needs to grab a much larger slice of what it
:05:30. > :05:37.makes, especially as domestic growth has slowed down. At the moment,
:05:38. > :05:42.Indian exports are worth more than $440 million, though about a third
:05:43. > :05:45.of that is from services like IT, rather than manufacturing. Selling
:05:46. > :05:50.more products overseas partly depends on economic conditions,
:05:51. > :05:54.investing and economy is improving. And those countries having the
:05:55. > :05:58.appetite for Indian made goods. But that is not the only battle. Other
:05:59. > :06:02.countries in the region are developing their export sectors.
:06:03. > :06:06.Bangladesh makes garments, Philippines electronics, Thailand
:06:07. > :06:14.and Vietnam machines and computer parts. The competition is getting
:06:15. > :06:19.tougher. I spoke earlier to HSBC's regional head of global trade about
:06:20. > :06:23.the bank's report and started by asking about India's projected
:06:24. > :06:26.growth and if Prime Minister Narendra Modi would be one of the
:06:27. > :06:30.main drivers behind it. Certainly the reforms that we expect Narendra
:06:31. > :06:37.Modi to put into place will help that, but India has got a growing
:06:38. > :06:41.middle class economy, it has got a competitive Labour rate still, and
:06:42. > :06:45.it has a good hi`tech in the pharmaceutical area, and we are
:06:46. > :06:49.going to see pharmaceuticals grow. At the same time, India has been
:06:50. > :06:54.very much a domestic driven economy. We see that this is certainly going
:06:55. > :06:59.to change. His reform policies are indeed promises, and you still have
:07:00. > :07:04.a high interest rate environment in India. Do you think Narendra Modi
:07:05. > :07:09.can deliver? The general sense that I get from speaking with clients in
:07:10. > :07:13.India is there is really a very, very positive momentum in place.
:07:14. > :07:18.Companies are getting very much set from a capital structures and their
:07:19. > :07:24.balance sheet to take advantage of the growth they expect coming out
:07:25. > :07:29.next year. Well who controls the Internet? The answer right now is no
:07:30. > :07:32.single organisation. But there is increasing concern about what could
:07:33. > :07:38.happen if governments demand more say in how the Internet works. It is
:07:39. > :07:41.an issue being discussed by the group responsible for assigning the
:07:42. > :07:47.billions of Internet domain names and IP addresses in existence today.
:07:48. > :07:50.Our correspondent caught up with their chief executive and asked them
:07:51. > :07:56.about the risk of government is wanting to write the rules. It is a
:07:57. > :08:01.threat because if we do not give answers to governments on how we can
:08:02. > :08:05.together ensure that we have an Internet that allows limitless and
:08:06. > :08:11.permission this innovation but also is secure, if we do not give
:08:12. > :08:16.government mechanisms or parts to participate in the policy setting to
:08:17. > :08:20.do that, I think it is a threat, because of and have a duty to
:08:21. > :08:24.protect their people, and their citizens. But in reality, don't
:08:25. > :08:28.governments really control the Internet today? I mean for example
:08:29. > :08:32.they control access that their populations have all stopped they
:08:33. > :08:36.may control the access, but they do not control the Internet, because
:08:37. > :08:41.the Internet is far more than access. The Internet is content. The
:08:42. > :08:45.Internet is policies on how things get managed. And it is that space
:08:46. > :08:51.that so far today has been managed I what we call the multi` stakeholder
:08:52. > :08:56.community, IT governments, business, civil society, academia,
:08:57. > :09:00.technical people, come together and make these policies. So how are you
:09:01. > :09:05.satisfy government's? How do you ensure that they stay on the
:09:06. > :09:07.sidelines? We need to show governments that the multi`
:09:08. > :09:15.stakeholder model works, and that they can have an active but his
:09:16. > :09:20.secretary role in it. `` active, participatory. Regarding privacy of
:09:21. > :09:25.citizens, protection of children, cyber security, governments have a
:09:26. > :09:29.role and we need to have them at the table. If you don't appease them
:09:30. > :09:35.however, what are the risks of governments getting more involved?
:09:36. > :09:41.Fragmentation. You will find that the Internet is not working for
:09:42. > :09:45.those who are in power, and they are unable to contribute to how it is
:09:46. > :09:50.run, we will see a fragmentation of the Internet. And fragmentation is
:09:51. > :09:55.not just at the physical level meaning possibly having multiple
:09:56. > :09:59.Internet 's, but it is also at the policy level. So if you are
:10:00. > :10:01.operating on the Internet, you will find that being able to render your
:10:02. > :10:05.services in one country becomes completely different from another
:10:06. > :10:08.country, and that fragmentation takes away, frankly, what made the
:10:09. > :10:18.Internet the massive engine of growth it is. That was ICANN's chief
:10:19. > :10:25.executive speaking to Ali Moore. Before we go a quick look at the
:10:26. > :10:30.markets, and US equities closed mixed overnight, leading investors
:10:31. > :10:34.to play it safe ahead of the Fed meeting tomorrow. Markets are also
:10:35. > :10:45.feeling the effects of China's week economic data. `` weak. The top
:10:46. > :10:48.stories this hour: US planes have targeted Islamic State militants
:10:49. > :10:51.close to the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, in the first attacks under President
:10:52. > :10:58.Obama's new plan to combat the group. The attacks follow agreement
:10:59. > :10:59.among 30 countries agree to support the Iraqi government's campaign
:11:00. > :11:00.against Islamic